When Ghouls Grow Up
by MasterofHearts1313
Summary: What if Shaggy and Scooby went back to Miss Grimwood's five years after the events of the movie? Shaggy is goign to find himself trapped in a school with hot teenaged monster girls who are thinking about looking for a mate, and not the Calloway Cadets.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this idea was inspired by a few pieces of fanart I saw while I was looking up Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School. It's probably one of my oddest ideas for a fanfic, but let me just say that I really like the premise, and I hope your like it too. If anyone is offended by the intended content, I apologize and wish that you would not flame me. Well then, Happy Halloween everyone, and let's start off with the first chapter.

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 1: Going Back to School

Shaggy pulled around on the steering wheel of the mystery machine as the skies got darker and darker. "Well, it looks like we're,like, on the right road, Scoob. What does the map, like, say?"

"Rell (Well)." Scooby looked at the map, opening and closing it in several different directions. "Rye don't row (I don't know)."

"I really wonder why I, like, let you navigate for me, Scoob.. You might be, like, one smart dog, but I swear that you have the world's worst sense of direction." Shaggy sighed as he leaned towards the windshield. "Now that I think about it, cam you, like, even read English?"

"Rye ron't rink row (I don't think so)." Scooby frowned at the paper as he threw it behind himself. "Rupid rap (Stupid map)."

"There's, like, nothing wrong with the map, Scooby. We just, like, don't have the skills needed to drive and read a map at the same time." Shaggy narrowed his eyes as he looked through the darkness. "It's been, like, what? Five years? I think it was five years."

"Ry are re roming rack (Why are we coming back)?" Scooby pointed through the darkness. "Rings rere rowing rine rith the rang (Things were going fine with the gang). Re didn't raff to reave (We didn't have to leave)."

"Let's, like, face it, Scoob. Mysteries just aren't as, like, common as they used to be." Shaggy sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "And the mystery solving just wasn't, like, paying the bills or, like, anything else. We, like, don't even have a house like everyone else does. We needed, like, a real job."

"Rut rere (But here)?" Scooby whined and simpered. "Ry rere (Why here)?"

"Because we had previous employment here, and Miss Grimwood really seemed excited to have me come back." Shaggy smiled as they finally came to a fork in the road. "See, we're almost there now."  
Sitting at the end of one of the forks was a real classy school with a blue roof and off white walls. There was a startling amount of sun shining down on the hedge-shrouded courtyard. A large yellow sign attached to a marble gate red _Calloway Military School_, but this was not the building that one might have expected the two cowards to be driving for.

Rather, their aim was for the school down the left fork. It stood in shambles as the black wood chipped off of the walls. It seemed as though the old weather vane on top was made to attract all of the storm clouds in the area. Vultures, crows, and ravens seemed to congregate around the area as though some avian conference had been called. A large wooden sign out front read Grimwood's Finishing School For Girls.

"Old stomping grounds, like, bring back old memories, huh, Scooby?" Shaggy chuckled. "And, man, did we stomp around here. Probably the only place where stomping is a more common mode of transportation than walking." He turned onto the left fork.

"Roh roy (Oh boy)." Scooby Doo placed a paw over his nose. "Rere re row ragain (Here we go again)." He turned back to Shaggy. "Rut rif rare's rore rudents (What if there's more students)?" He shivered at the thought.

"Like, we'll worry about that if there are any new students, Scoob." Shaggy pulled up and parked near the moat. "We're here, now, so we'll find out soon what we're dealing with."

"Rutrever roo ray, Raggy (Whatever you say, Shaggy)." Scooby opened his door and walked out onto the the deep dirt.

"Hey, at least it's not raining like last time." Shaggy nodded towards Scooby. "That's always a good sign, right?"

"Rot ras rood as a randrich (Not as good as a sandwich)." Scooby trotted over alongside Shaggy. "Ret's rust row rinride ralready (Let's just go inside already?"

"Fine. Fine." Shaggy walked along until they had crossed over the bridge and was standing in front of the door. "We'll, like, get you something to eat as soon as we, like, get settled in." He rang the large doorbell.

The door creaked open for the two. A levitating, clawed glove levitated in front of them as they walked inside. The two jumped as the hand approached them, but it only a momentary thing. As they stood in the foyer, the hand floated off.

In a few minutes, a familiar voice called from the other room. "Coming. Coming." A squat woman wearing a lilac pink dress and with large black hair came walking into the foyer. She walked up to Shaggy and shook his hand. "It's so nice to have oyu back, Mr. Rogers." She snickered as she leaned back, popping her spine a couple times. "You'll have to forgive me, if I don't seem to be doing things very fast. I'm afraid that I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Well, you were, like, pretty fast in hiring me back." Shaggy chuckled. "I mean, I realize that the year is about to start, but, like, what happened to the last coach?"

"Oh, nothing too bad." Miss Grimwood smiled as she waved the comment off. "It's just a little tough to keep a physical education teacher for more than a year in a monster school. Things can get kind of rough pretty quickly."

"Raggy, rar roo rure rarout ris (Shaggy, are you sure about this)?" Scooby swallowed as he sat down beside Shaggy. "Ruff? Truff? (Rough? Tough?)"

"Oh, I'm sure it's, like, not that bad." Shaggy turned back to Miss Grimwood. "So, like, what all students do you have here."

"Well, we're a little different from the Calloway school. We aren't quite so strict about who we take in as a student." Miss Grimwood grimaced. "However, those newer students had some needs that we couldn't readily supply too well." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You know, I keep telling those extraterrestrials that we are here for the more earthly monsters, and I'm afraid that we don't have the facilities for a swamp creature and a giant reptilian beast." She raised a knowing finger. "And we have not received any new students after them."

"You mean, like, everyone else is still here?" Shaggy scratched his head. "Hasn't it been five years or so?"

"Yes, it has." Miss Grimwood smiled. "Monsters live for a much longer period of time than humans, though, so it's not uncommon for them to stay in school until they're twenty-five, not including whether they go to college or not. Of course, we supply college curriculum here as well." She paused, in fact, I think I hear one of your students coming now."

The whole building was shaking in intervals as though a giant was hitting it regularly with a tennis racket. Soon, a tall woman, probably seven feet tall, walked into the foyer. Her brow was slightly furrowed, and her bangs hung over her brows and framed the sides of her face, hiding the scars which showed how her face was stitched on. Her dark green shirt and white jeans hung on a more systemic, angled build than would be natural.

The tall woman walked over to Shaggy. "Well, look who's finally back." She leaned down and took hold of Shaggy's hands. "Things just haven't been the same since you left, coach."

"Did I hear ya'll right?" A light blue head popped through the floor. The hair hung over one of her eyes, but a characteristic blue streak ran through her white hair. On top of the head was a new white cowboy's hat. She floated up completely to reveal a white dress with a short skirt and white cowboy boots. "Well, what do ya'll know?" She skipped over and winked at Shaggy. "Ya'll come back for a another shot at the monster life, Shaggy Sugar?"

"Sugar?" Shaggy swallowed lightly as he looked between the two aged girls. He laughed nervously as he took one hand from the tall girl and gave it to the pale girl. "Anyways, it's, like, great to see you guys, Elsa and Phanty. You guys have certainly grown up."

"Yes, haven't we?" A bat flew down from the ceiling and landed on the ground. In a whitl of wings, the bat was replaced by a girl about the same height as Phanty, only with pale violet skin. Her shirt was a deeper shade of violet, but very low cut, and it was cut high enough to reveal her navel. She placed her hands on her hips, tracing the rim of her hiphugger jeans. "Isn't it just fang-tastic."

"Hi, Sibella." Shaggy pulled his hands away from the others. "Um, seems as though five years can, like, really change things."

"It sure does, Sugar." Phanty flicked her the tip of her hat as she looked over at the vampire. "And that little filly likes to show off her growth."

"It can't be helped." Elsa gently rubbed one of her large bolts, and electricity pulsed up to her head. Her eyes glowed as she furrowed her brow. "She's a vampire. They always feel the need to show off."

"Oh, you two are just batty." Sibella flipped her hair with her hand. "I'm not that big of a showoff. I just have a fang-tastic sense of fashion, unlike you two."

Phanty raised an eyebrow, a smirk spreading across her face. "That's hitting a little below the belt, Bella."

"Don't call me that," Sibella hissed. "My father named me Sibella, and that is the appropriate name to call me. I am not going to stand here and have my name be shortened so irreligiously."

"You don't stand for a whole lot of stuff, Bats." A girl that was covered in light brown fur slid down the stairway banister. She landed next to Sibella, her short shorts and dark blue shirt fitting her athletic form so little of her figure was left to the imagination. A tail swished behind her as she walked over to Shaggy. "Hey, Coach, you're back. Looks like you've been working out, too." She grabbed one of Shaggy's arms and hugged it close to her chest. "Guess what, Shag, I've outranked everyone else. Been wearing a D-cup for three months now."

Sibella palmed her face. "Now werewolves. They're showoffs."

Shaggy blushed as he tugged at his arm, unable to pull it away from the animalistic arms. "Well, I really don't know what to say, Winnie." He swallowed. "Let's see. Wasn't there someone else?"

"Me." A mummy girl showed up at the top of the stairs. The bandages on her head were pulled back into a pair of ponytails. She ran down the stairs and towards Shaggy. "You remember me, right, Shaggy?"

His face growing warmer and warmer, Shaggy finally pulled his arm away from Winnie and stepped back to the door. "Well, hold on. I still need to, like, go get my bags from the car."

"Rum, Raggy (Um, Shaggy)?"

Shaggy turned to face Scooby. "Like, what is it, Scoob?"

"Re ran (The van)!" Scooby was pointing out of the window. "Re ran (The van)! Re ran (The van)!"

"Like, what about the van, Scoob." Shaggy walked over to looked out of the window. "Zoinks!"

Outside, a large dragon was chewing on what must have been part of Shaggy and Scooby's vehicle, for most of the van was missing.

"Oh my." Miss Grimwood placed a concerned hand on her chin as she looked outside alongside the other two. "I should have warned you about Matches. He's been getting a little rowdy, lately. That's what's happens when dragons get to be that age." She walked over to the door and walked out. "Matches! No! Bad boy! Bad! Spit that out!"

"Well, Scoob," Shaggy laughed nervously as he cast a sidelong glance at the Scooby, "something tells me that we're going to be here for a while."

---

I realize that this isn't the the longest chapter, but I at least needed to introduce the story. I hope things are looking all right. I have big plan for this story, eventually, so please hang in there with me. Things should get better soon.

Please enjoy and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, now here's the real special bonus. I didn't introduce any new students, but I have a few new teachers up my sleeve. Really, there are more subjects in school than physical education. I brewed these guys up just for this story, so I hope everybody likes them.

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 2: You're Part of a Staff

Miss Grimwood wiped her hands against each other to rid them of dust as she walked back into the school. "My apologies, Mr. Rogers, but I couldn't recover any of your luggage. Matches is going through a bit of a temperamental and rebellious phase. I hope you can forgive him."

"Oh, oh. That's, like, fine, Miss Grimwood." Shaggy swallowed as he looked out the window. "There wasn't, like, much anything important in there anyways."

"Reah. Rothring Rimrortant (Yeah. Nothing important)." Scooby laughed nervously as he stared at the dragon just outside the small school.

"Nevertheless, I do feel the need to order you some new clothes and replace whatever was lost." Miss Grimwood nodded joyfully. "After all. It's only proper."

"Speaking 'bout proper." Phanty floated up beside Shaggy and took hold of his hands. "How 'bout ya'll tell us what ya'll has been up to as of late. Must be pretty exciting, after all."

"Yeah." Winnie's eyes grew wide as her tail wagged furiously. "What's the story? You've been gone for the longest time."  
"Yeah, Mr. Rogers." Tanis took hold of one of her bandage ponytails and wrung it shyly. "Where did you go after you ran away? It was still the middle of the year and everything."

"Now, now, girls. There will be plenty of time for stories later." Miss Grimwood shooed the girls off with a wave of her hands. "Really, Mr. Rogers and Scooby have had a long trip, and they need their rest. Not to mention that there is only a few more days before your classes start up again. I best suggest that you write home about anything you think you might still need. Any missing textbooks, any special comfort food or good luck charms you think you'll need for the year."

"Very well, Miss Grimwood." Sibella curtsied nobly to the headmistress. "I do suppose I need to make sure I have enough blood packets for the month. I don't want to be caught sleep-eating again."

"No kidding, Bats." Winnie growled as she rubbed her neck. "Next time you won't be so lucky as to get away with only a few clean scratches."  
"Please, Winnie, Sibella. Don't fight." Tanis hopped her way back to the stairs. "Besides, I'm going to tell my mummy daddy that Mr. Rogers has come back to teach us. He'll be so happy that he might even send some scarab candy back." With that, she climbed up the stairs.

"I need to go finish setting up the electric box, anyways." Elsa cracked her knuckles as she walked to the door in the back of the foyer. "Really, it will be nice to actually enhance the technology in this place some more. I'm so sick of fire lighting up everything."

"And I best come with ya'll, Elsa." Phanty followed close behind the animated corpse. "I can't wait until I can get a computer in my room. It's too much of a fuss to have to deal with paper all the time.

"You said it." Elsa nodded along as her ghostly friend bobbed beside her.

When there was only three left in the foyer, Miss Grimwood turned to Shaggy and Scooby. "Might I escort you to your room, Mr. Rogers and Scooby. It's been prepared for a few days now."

A loud rumbling filled the room, and Scooby clutched his stomach. He whined up at Shaggy.

"Um, could we, like, get something to eat, first, Miss Grimwood?" Shaggy held his own stomach. "I'm afraid that we didn't, like, have much in the car to eat, and even if we, like, had, it's all, like, gone now."

"Rye'm rarving (I'm starving)." Scooby whined even louder.  
"I'm sure that's a reasonable request." Miss Grimwood turned around and walked along. "Follow me. I'm sure you can get you a little something before you sleep. It is only the late afternoon, after all. Come along."

Shaggy and Scooby followed the short headmistress as she walked along the halls. It wasn't long until they were in the kitchen. It wasn't a particularly large room, but there were a couple of ovens and stovetops in it, along with a sizable pantry and an icebox.

"Mm. Something smells good, doesn't it, Scoob?" Shaggy sniffed the air hungrily.

"Rye'll ray (I'll say)." Scooby smiled as he followed Shaggy in sniffing and across the kitchen. There, a large pot was boiling steadily on a stovetop. It looked like a thick form of stew, and the steam rising from it carried a few down home, earthy, mother's cooking smell to it.

"Gee, Miss Grimwood, like, what is this stuff?" Shaggy joined Scooby in raising a finger to snag a taste.

"I'm not altogether sure, Mr. Rogers." Miss Grimwood folded her hands together and shrugged. "I wasn't the one who made it."  
Shaggy turned his head to Miss Grimwood. "Well, if you didn't make this, then who did? One of the students?"

"I'm the one who made this!" Suddenly a large, wooden spoon smacked both Shaggy and Scooby on the hand, causing them to withdraw from the pot. The woman holding had such a unique appearance, that it made Shaggy and Scooby wonder how they hadn't seen her earlier in the kitchen. Her hair was neon red, and even her skin had a rather orange tint to it. Though she was nearly a head shorter than Shaggy, her hands and feet at least outsized his four-fold, and her hair would have made a lion's mane look thin. She snorted at the two gluttons. "And just so you know, I don't take kindly to those who think they can sneak food!"  
"We weren't, like, trying to sneak anything. Honest!" Shaggy swallowed as he stared at the new woman in the kitchen. "Like, who are you?"

"My apologies, Mr. Rogers. I'm afraid you haven't been properly introduced." Miss Grimwood walked over and gestured to the cook. "This is Mrs. Palmyra Elmroot. She's our current chef and cooking instructor for the girls. I'm surprised I didn't introduce you two the last time you were here."  
"Mr. Rogers, huh?" Mrs. Elmroot snorted again as she looked back at Shaggy and Scooby. "So you're the new physical ed teacher, eh?"

"Well, me and my pal Scoob, that is." Shaggy pointed at the pot, his nose starting to crinkle. "By the way, what is that? Is it something with bat wing soup or snake and spider stew, or something like that."

"What are you- oh, gall!" Mrs. Elmroot pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's just a simple mutton stew, for heaven's sakes." She turned and pointed one of her long fingers at Miss Grimwood. "Really, I don't want to be accused for the garbage that often gets slung around here, when I decide to take a brief vacation, because unlike some plump and pompous headmistresses, I actually care about the students health!"  
"Now, now, Palmyra." Miss Grimwood did her best to smile as she was confronted by the cook. "There's nothing to get sore about."  
"Nothing to get sore about!" Mes. Elmroot's hair began to light on fire. "Really? I don't want to be accused as some sort of swamp-swilling hag. Bat wing soup? If you're going to make anything like that, at least use the whole bat. The wings hardly have any meat on them!" She ground the wooden spoon she was holding into dust between her large hands. "Or here's a better idea: have them eat like normal people instead of a bunch of Halloween junk food and dishes you find in COMIC BOOKS!"

"Very well. I'll see what I can do." Miss Grimwood took a step back from Mrs. Elmroot. "However, out new member of the school staff and his associate would like something to eat. They have been traveling a while."  
"If that's the case." Mrs. Elmroot's hair stopped burning, and she turned around to Shaggy and Scooby. "If you really need something before dinner, there should be a few ham and cheese sandwiches in the icebox and a jar of peanut butter cookies in the pantry. Have as many sandwiches as you like, but only one cookie each for now. You really shouldn't overdo it on the sweets, after all."

"Rokay!" Scooby trotted over to the icebox and opened it.

Shaggy walked over with Scooby and pulled out several sandwiches for himself. Though they had quite a few of the sandwiches in their arms, they skipped the pantry and ran out of the kitchen.

"Smart boys." Mrs. Elmroot shot one last glance at Miss Grimwood. "You could learn a thing of two from them."

"I'm sure I could." Miss Grimwood walked out not quite so quickly as the other two, but she caught up with them without too much difficulty. "Please forgive Mrs. Elmroot. Fire trolls often have very nasty tempers at times."

"At least she didn't fry us to a crisp." Shaggy bit into one of the sandwiches. "And if she can do this well with something as simple as a ham and cheese sandwich, then I can't wait to see what all else she can make."

"Well, I think you'll remember that your room is the one on the highest floor." Miss Grimwood pointed straight up. "Scooby, if you feel so inclined, you may go up there. I need to borrow Mr. Rogers for a while."

Scooby paused and looked at Shaggy a moment. He soon nodded and walked towards the stairs, going through a continual wheel of stuffing a whole sandwich in his mouth, chewing, and swallowing.

"So, like," Shaggy turned away from the stairs, "what do you need to talk to me about, Miss G?"

"Well, I noticed your reaction to Mrs. Elmroot, and I do believe that I should introduce you to more of our humble little staff." Miss Grimwood turned and walked along. "I believe I was rather rude in not introducing you last time, but I was a little more focused on winning that volleyball game. If you'll follow me, the teacher's lounge is just around the corner."

"Okay." Shaggy's eyes grew wide as he followed the shorter woman. He swallowed lightly. "So, like the girls, they're all monsters, right?"

"For the most part." Miss Grimwood chuckled. "Of course, it all depends on what you consider a monster or not. For example," she opened a door and pointed inside. "Is that what you think of, when you think of a monster?"

Shaggy looked inside the open door. He was escorted in by Miss Grimwood, but he was surprised at what he saw. Sure, the octopus butler was a common sight at Miss Grimwood's school, but he didn't remember the thing in the chair before. It looked like the guts of an old car reformatted into the shape of a squat human man. The machine's eyes glowed a dastardly yellow as he read the newspaper, and a large, Cuban cigar hung out of his mouth.

"Mr. Rogers, I would like you to meet Mr. Crossedwires." Miss Grimwood cleared her throat as they approached the machine. "Mr. Crossedwires."

The mechanical man looked up from his newspaper and growled. "What! What is it?"

"Mr. Crossedwires, this is Mr. Rogers." Miss Grimwood gestured kindly towards Shaggy. "He will be out new physical education teacher for the upcoming year."  
"So you're the bum that Miss Grimwood hired, huh?" Mr. Crossedwires glowered at Shaggy. "Well, boy, what's your spiel? You don't look like you belong in this sort of place." He pulled his cigar out of his mouth and flicked the asked onto Shaggy's shoes. "You look almost human to me."

"I-I-I-" Shaggy found himself shuddering as he looked at the robot.

"You're what, boy!" Mr. Crossedwires raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Speak up!"  
"I am human." Shaggy chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "That's, like, not going to be a problem, is it?"

"A human?" Mr. Crossedwires's turned his gaze over to Miss Grimwood. "What's the meaning of this, Miss Grimwood? You didn't go hiring somebody from that Calloway school, did you?"

"Of course not, Mr. Crossedwires." Miss Grimwood pointed down and mouthed something.

"What the heck are you- YAH!" Mr. Crossedwires found his head trapped between four tentacles. "Let go of me, you overgrown calamari ring! Let go!" His eyes began to flicker, and his cigar stopped smoking as his head turned around. As his head turned, a much fuller, though more leanly designed face appeared from the back.

"Now, Mr. Rogers, I would like you to meet Mr. Cogsworth." Miss Grimwood smiled. "He's our science teacher, whereas Mr. Crossedwires teaches math."

The new face's eyes opened to reveal eyes that emitted white light. He sat up much straighter and folded the newspaper neatly before setting it to the side. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rogers. I do apologize on Oliver's behalf. He can be quite rude at times." He picked up a cup of tea and sipped from it. "Not to mention that he's been after the job of the physical education teacher for quite a few years now. I don't understand why. He does very well with mathematics." He turned to Miss Grimwood. "By the way, have you introduced him to Miss Gretel yet. I'm sure they would enjoy each other's company." He winked at Shaggy. "And good show, old boy. A human working at a monster school. This is a true mark of progress."

"Thank you, Mr. Cogsworth, but we were just going to meet Miss Gretel right now." Miss Grimwood pointed farther into the room. "See? She's right there."

"So she is." Mr. Cogsworth smiled. "Very well. It will be a pleasure to meet me later." Suddenly, the head snapped back around to bring a fuming Mr. Crossedwire's. "Or better yet, stay away!" He puffed angrily into his cigar as he dropped the cup. "And don't go turning me away like that!"  
"Come along, Mr. Rogers." Miss Grimwood walked away from the robot and back into the room.

"I'm, like, right behind you, Miss Grimwood." Shaggy ran after the headmistress but stopped as he saw what looked like cellar doors in the floor. "Like, what are those groovy doors there for?"

"Mr. Squirm." Miss Grimwood walked past the doors, but made it a point to point at them. "He's our literary teacher, but he doesn't socialize very much. He spends most of his time beneath the garden. Of course, what do you expect from a bookworm."

"A bookworm?" Shaggy caught up with Miss Grimwood's short steps. He saw the woman in the next chair and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so you have a troll, a robot, and a bookworm, but what is she? She doesn't look like a monster."

"Just hold on a minute." Miss Grimwood cupped a hand around her mouth. "Miss Gretel, could we speak to you for a moment?"

The human-looking woman looked up from her book and smiled. She stood up and walked over, smiling even wider as she noticed Shaggy.

"Mr. Rogers, this is Miss Gretel, our music teacher." She gestured from Shaggy to the new teacher to Shaggy again. "And Miss Gretel, this is Mr. Rogers, our new physical education teacher."

Miss Gretel held out her hand and smiled. In a voice that sounded like broken glass, rusty nails, and gravel in a short-circuiting blender, though, she said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Rogers."

Miss Grimwood had covered her ears just before the music teacher spoke, but Shaggy soon dropped to the floor, writhing.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Miss Gretel knelt down to help Shaggy.

"If you're so sorry, then quit talking!" Mr. Crossedwires looked around from his chair. "Really, you could kill a dragon with that voice."

"My apologies, Mr. Rogers." Miss Grimwood removed her hands from her ears. "I should have warned you. Miss Gretel teaches musical instruments, not actual singing and dancing." She placed a hand on Miss Gretel's shoulder. "She's a very nice and good witch, though, so please don't take it as a personal attack."

Placing a hand over her mouth, Miss Gretel nodded solemnly.

"Like, it's okay." Shaggy rubbed the insides of his ears out with his fingers. "I guess I just wasn't like, expecting it."

"As I believe Mr. Squirm would say, you can't judge a book by it's cover." Miss Grimwood helped Miss Gretel pull Shaggy to his feet. "Oh, I do hope you all get along well."

"Pfft. Doubt it." Mr. Crossedwires turned back around and sat down in his chair. "Have you even told the human about Alister yet?"

"Alister?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "Like, who's he?" He looked over at Miss Grimwood. "Are you, like, experimenting with letting, like, boys into the school of something?"  
"Not exactly, though it is a bit of an experiment, I suppose you could say." Miss Grimwwod cleared her throat. "Some believe that the girls aren't exactly as terrifying as their fathers were in their day. Alister is a scare tactics teacher."

"A sc-sc-sc-scare t-t-t-t-tactics t-t-teacher?" Shaggy turned white. "What does he look like?"

Miss Gretel shook her head and shrugged. She looked over at Miss Grimwood.

"I'm afraid that Miss Gretel is right, Mr. Rogers. All we really know about him is that he is the heir to the title of Bogeyman and that he's here." Miss Grimwood looked around. "It's unknown whether he leaves his room or not, but his room is the one directly below yours. You might find time to speak with him later on."  
"Oh great." Shaggy swallowed, shaking violently. "Just great."

---

Yeah, anybody see a little foreshadowing on what a few problems for Shaggy might be aside from the girls and eventually their parents? I try to keep things simple, when it comes to foreshadowing.

I really don't know what else to say, so please enjoy and review.


	3. Chapter 3

Time to continue this story some more. Man, I've left off on it for so long. I just hope this goes smoothly as I continue it. Should be fun, though. Who knows what all surprises could await Shaggy and Scooby.

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 3: Time For Your First Lesson

Shaggy and Scooby were sleeping peacefully in their beds the following morning. That is, until a monstrous rooster flapped its way to the top of the building and roared to the rising sun.

"Ruh? Whuh?" Scooby raised his only a fraction of an inch before plopping it back down. Another roar, though, sent the poor great dane practically flying through the air towards the bed of his owner. His paws clutched around Shaggy with great force, his whole body shaking.

"Like, what's the problem, Scoob?" Shaggy sat up in bed and yawned, Scooby's bear hug preventing him from stretching.

"Ronster! (Monster!)" Scooby exclaimed, pointing towards the window.

"Zoinks! Monster!" Shaggy was just about to jump himself, until realization smacked him in the face. "Like, wait a second, Scoob! We're in a school, like, full of monsters. What sort of reason is that to wake me up for?"

"Ruh?" Scooby thought for a moment, his eyes rolling back a bit in his thought process. He bumped his head with his paw, finally. "Roh rah (oh yeah)." He snickered to himself.

"Now, like, just try to get, like, some more rest, Scoob." Shaggy laid back down and pulled up his covers. "We only have, like, a few days left that we can actually sleep in worth anything." He yawned again before settling his head into his pillow.

"Rokay, Raggy (Okay, Shaggy)." Scooby let out a wide yawn himself, bounding off of Shaggy's bed and strolling over to his own.

It was apparent their plans weren't going to happen, seeing how the was flung open as Miss Grimwood spun her way in. "Good morning, Mister Rogers. I do certainly hope you're ready for your first lesson to the girls."

Shaggy was somewhat crumpled in on himself, after having jumped into the canopy of his bed and collapsing back on the mattress. He pulled himself up and stared at the headmistress through half-closed eyes. "Like, what's the deal, Miss G?"

"It's as I said, Mister Rogers." Miss Grimwood held up a shaking finger. "Your first lesson for the girls will begin shortly. I do hope you're feeling ready."

Scooby looked up at Shaggy as they exchanged glances. They both looked over at the short woman, raising their eyebrows.

Miss Grimwood placed a thoughtful finger on his chin before chuckling to herself. "Oh, my apologies, Mister Rogers. I suppose I should have told you last night. Your classes will be starting a little earlier than the other classes." She nodded to herself, still tittering. "Besides, there's nothing better first thing in the morning than a few good exercises."

"Like, when you're right, like, you're right, Miss G." Shaggy stretched his arms up, listening as his spine popped several times. "We'll be down shortly."  
"I do hope so. The girls seem quite excited." Miss Grimwood turned around and walked out of the room.

Scooby was the first to roll himself out of bed. He walked over to the pile of supplies Miss Grimwood had provided, given how their possessions had been eaten yesterday. He picked up a scrub brush and a towel before strutting his way towards the bathroom on his hind legs.

Stretching out his back with his hands, Shaggy stood up and yawned once more, smacking his lips. "Scoob, like, what are you doing?" He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. "There's, like, no sense getting a shower, if you're just going to get sweaty."

"Ruh?" Scooby looked between Shaggy and the bathroom. His eyes suddenly widened with realization. "Roh Reah (Oh yeah)!" He placed his shower items on the table, got back down on all fours, and bounded out the door.

Laughing, Shaggy slipped his night shirt off and put on his clothes. He hopped on one foot at a time towards the door as he put his shoes on. "Like, hey! Wait up, Scoob!"

The two pals raced down the stairs and towards the kitchen. They ran up to the kitchen to find that the doors were locked.

Scooby placed his paws over his stomach and whimpered. "Raggy, rut rar ree rowing rue do? Rye'm rungry! (Shaggy, what are we going to do? I'm hungry!)"

"Yeah, like, me too, Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' pal o' mine." Shaggy rubbed the scruff on his chin. "I don't know what's, like, going on, though. Maybe we should, like, find Miss Grimwood."

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby nodded approvingly as he followed Shaggy around the first floor. Having found noone there, they went up to the gymnasium on the second floor to find noone was there, either. In fact, the air hung deathly still around them as they looked around.

Feeling a chill, Shaggy rubbed his arms and shuddered. "Like, I don't know about this, Scoob. This is getting kinda creepy."  
"Rah! Real Reepy! (Yeah! Real creepy!)" Scooby's teeth were clattering steadily as he followed Shaggy, walking upright. "Rare ris reveryrun? (Where is everyone?)"

"Like, I don't know, Scoob." Shaggy walked back towards the doors and down the stairs. "Maybe we should, like, go check outside. If nothing else, maybe Matches, like, could give us a clue."

"Racthes (Matches)!" Scooby whimpered at the thought.

"Uh..." Shaggy held his chin between his fingers in thought as he stepped off the final stair. "Maybe that's, like, not as good of an idea as I intended that to sound." His upturned eyes skewed his vision, causing his to bump into something and fall backwards on Scooby.

A metal clanking and the whirring of a hundred gyros and gears and other mechanical whoozit-whatzits made a real racket over the two physical education teachers as Mr. Crossedwires glared down at them. He gave a gruff grunt as he picked them up by their collars. He snorted, puffing smoke in both of their faces. "Some teachers you are! Late for your first class and everything!"

Scooby eyes teared up as the smoke clogged his senses. He coughed harder than Shaggy.

Shaggy, himself, was waving the smoke way from his face as tears welled in his eyes. "Like, where is everybody, man?"

"That's Mr. Crossedwires to you!" Sparks and the stench of old oil escaped the machine's mouth as he roared at Shaggy. He leaned his head back a bit, though, and thought for a moment. He let out a sigh, some of his gears clanking roguhly as he shrugged his shoulders and slouched them. "Maybe you're not the ones to blame for this." His eyes glimmered dully, brightening just a tad as his brow furrowed. "That Miss Grimwood is so irresponsible!" He turned around, carrying the two along at his sides.

After smashing the door open and emerging in the sunlight, Mr. Crossedwires grunted a few times as he carried his luggage towards the sports field.

Sitting on benches around the sports field were the students, Miss Grimwood, Miss Gretel, and Mrs. Elmroot. Matches even laid on the other side, snoring out flickers of flame every few seconds, his sides rising and lowering with each snore.

Mr. Crossedwires tossed Shaggy and Scooby towards the ground, sending them skidding until they were laying in front of the female teachers.

As Miss Gretel pulled her skirts shut for the sake of modesty, Miss Grimwood stood up and walked over to her new employees. "Oh my, I certainly hope Mr. Crossedwires wasn't too rough with you." She waved dismissingly. "I was just concerned about you two, Mister Rogers. It was taking you so long and all."

"It wouldn't have taken so long, if you actually gave proper instructions to anyone!" Mr. Crossedwires crossed his arms and breathed a stream of smoke at the headmistress. He missed, though, because of her short height. He stomped over and pointed a junky finger at her. "Really, how long have you been at this?"

"Thirty years, I assure you, Mr. Crossedwires." Miss Grimwood gestured to a seat near her own. "Now, if you'd be so kind."

Grumbling, Mr. Crossedwires uncrossed his arms and walked over to the indicated section of bench.

Shaggy leaned over to Miss Grimwood. "So, like, Miss G," he gestured to the other teachers on the bench, "why is everyone else, like, out here?"

"To watch you, of course," Miss Grimwood said behind a cupped hand. "They didn't really get to see much of you last time, so it shouldn't be unexpected that they would be curious about someone like yourself." She gestured towards the Grimwood Girls. "However, don't let that bother you. You still have a class to teach."

"Oh yeah. Like, right, Miss G." Shaggy turned to Scooby. "Say, Scoob, you mind, like, grabbing some of the gear?"

Scooby scratched his head. "Rut Raggy, rasn't rit reaten? (But Shaggy, wasn't it eaten?)"

Shaggy laughed. "Like, Scoob, ol' buddy, I meant from the gym."

"Right." Scooby gave Shaggy a thumbs-up before running back towards the school.

"So, then, Sugar," Phanty appeared over Shaggy's shoulder, pulling her hat over one eye, "what all ya'll planning on teaching us today?"

With the unexpected intrusion on his personal space, Shaggy swallowed, shaking slightly.

"Yeah, Coach!" Winnie clutched Shaggy's other arm. "What's the plans?" She lowered her voice. "And please tell me it doesn't involve dancing."

"Um, well..." Shaggy could feel sweat beading on his brow. "Let's, like, wait for Scooby to come back with some equipment."  
Mr. Crossedwires rolled his glowing eyes, grunting. A punch to the shoulder from Mrs. Elmroot seemed to shut him up, though.

"Well, certainly you must have some sort of stretches or other planned." Sibella had perched herself neatly on Shaggy's shoulders. She bent over and looked her teacher in the face. "It would only be proper."

"Um, yeah, sure." Shaggy laughed nervously as he stared the vampire in the face, averting eye contact as best he could at such close proximity. "Yeah. In fact, like, how about you girls all start stretching until Scoob comes back with the gear."

"Sounds good to me, Coach." Winnie let go of Shaggy and stretched her back, thrusting her chest forward, before scampering over to the field, stretching in a more catlike fashion than would be expected from a werewolf.

"Oh, Winnie." Sibella jumped off of Shaggy's shoulders and glided to the field. With a snap of her fingers, her dress changed into some more appropriate exercise wear. She flipped her hair before landing, leaning herself into a split on the ground. "Why must you be such so catty."

Winnie's only response was sticking her tongue out at the vampire.

Phanty whirled her way onto the field, but she didn't really do anything along the lines of stretching. Rather, she seemed more interested in sitting with her legs crossed than even attempting to stretch.

Elsa leaned over to Shaggy. "It's a ghost thing," she explained. "Because she doesn't have a completely tangible body, she doesn't take conditioning very seriously." She sighed. "I'm not even sure if she will really do anything in this class."

"Um... well..." Shaggy rubbed the back of his head. "What are you, like, talking about? Isn't that a really rude?"

"I suppose." Elsa crossed her hands behind her back and walked over to the field. "However, I probably know Phanty better than anyone else." She stretched herself back in nearly in half, grabbing her ankles. She reeled back up and began twisting herself at the waist.

"Um, Mister Rogers, could you please help me?" Tanis had somehow gotten her ponytails wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Actually, she was so tangled up in her bandages that it was hard to tell whether she was standing or sitting or lying down.

"Like, holy cow!" Shaggy ran over and began pulling bandages up and over and around the young mummy. "How did this happen?"

"I was trying to stretch, Mister Rogers. I really was." Tanis stood up and took hold of her head. "I guess I just got a little wrapped up in it, huh?"

Mr. Crossedwires palmed his face. Mrs. Elmroot and Miss Gretel both shook their heads. Miss Grimwood placed a hand over her mouth.

"Sure." Shaggy stood up and looked around. "Um, like, I hope Scoob gets back with that equipment soon."

On cue, Scooby came waltzing back with a large carpet bag in his paw.

Shaggy waved over to the dog. "Great! But, like, Scoob, what took you so long?"

"Rell, rit rook ree rome rork roo ret ris ruff (Well, it took me some work to get this stuff)." Scooby opened his carpet bag and reached in, pulling out various items.

"Like, let's see what all you've got here, Scoob." Shaggy walked over to the mess. He pointed over the weights and jumpropes, ultimately ignoring them. Rather, his eyes fell on a much larger piece of equipment. "Like, hey! Hurdles should, like, do the trick." He picked up a couple of hurdles and gestured towards the track to Scooby. "Like, let's get things set up, Scoob, ol' buddy."

Scooby looked up from his pile of exercise junk and immediately picked up on Shaggy's plan. "Rah, rah, rah (Yeah, yeah, yeah)." He nodded as he stood up and grabbed a couple of hurdles himself.

The two began running back and forth between track and equipment, setting up a hurdle track.

As the great dane placed the last hurdle, the man turned to his students and smiled. "Like, how about we try some hurdles now." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "That should be, like, a great way to get warmed-up for the new year."

"No problem, Coach." Winnie pumped her fists into the air and swiftly turned.

Shaggy was just able to grab the werewolf by the collar before she could run off. "Now, now. Like, let's let Tanis go first." He offered a supportive gesture to the little mummy.

"Me?" Tanis looked over at the hurdles and swallowed. Though she had definitely grown over the last few years, she was at least a head shorter than the rest of the girls. Nevertheless, she was able to bring herself to the starting line and turned to face her challenge. Her running started out smoothly, but as soon as she jumped her first hurdle, a length of her bandage got wrapped around the top of it, causing her to twist in the air. Her legs got tangled up, and she fell to the ground. Blushing madly, she fought with her bandages in a losing battle.

Scooby was the one to save the little mummy this time. He bit the bandage that was wrapped around the hurdle, so that it snipped apart. He turned to Tanis and soon got the mummy untangled. He even let her ride on his back until they rejoined the rest of the group.

Still blushing hotly, Tanis curtsied towards Scooby. "Thank you, Mister Scooby. I was in real trouble."

"Ra, ron't rention rit (Ah, don't mention it)." Scooby snickered to himself in glee.

"Yeah. That could have been a real problem." Shaggy let go of Winnie. "Alright, Winnie, let's see what you can do."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Winnie sped off towards the track. "Yo, Bats! Bet you I can beat any time you can make out here!"

"Again with the showing off." Sibella shook her head disapprovingly, but she soon joined Winnie at the starting line.

The tow glared at each other in an amicably competitive fashion before speeding down the track. Despite her speed, Sibella still kept great grace. It was surprising, but obvious, that she seemed to be losing the most speed with her delicate jumps over each hurdle. Winnie's feral speed and leaps made it clear who was more physically adept. However, close to the end of the lap, Sibella decided to go a bit batty, actually turning into a bat, and swooped her way past the last few hurdles. Still, Winnie definitely was ahead to the end, flipping herself into the air and landing dramatically.

"In your face, Bats!" Winnie called. She howled loud enough to cause a slight shaking of the ground.

"I suppose so." Sibella returned to normal and sighed. "I should have just winged it from the beginning."

"Please, all ya'll." Phanty took her hat off and spun it on one finger, promptly returning it to her head. "All ya'll think that's a good time?" She walked over to the starting line. "I'll show all ya'll a good time."

The ghost's physical speed was obviously slower than the vampire's and the werewolf's, but she laughed as her special trick pulled through for her. She actually went through the hurdles, rather than over. Without wasting time on jumping, she was finding herself beating the time of the other two girls as she approached the finish line.

While Sibella stated protests and Winnie started accusing and throwing threats, Elsa simply smirked. She walked up to the same starting point as quietly as her heavy footsteps allowed. She tensed her muscles before she started. Soon after the first thrust, though, she was speeding up like a freight train, using the same strategy as Phanty. The turns were a little rough for her, but she didn't miss a single opportunity to crunch wood.

Shaggy palmed his face as Elsa finished. She definitely had the best time, but not how he had planned it.

Mr. Crossedwires fumed, actually swallowing his cigar. "What was that? No discipline whatsoever! No control! What sort of sorry excuse for a teacher are you, boy!"

Mrs. Elmroot elbowed the robot in the stomach causing him to double over. "How bout we just go get some breakfast. She turned and walked back towards the school, making it a point to step across her victim without remorse.

"Capital idea, Palmyra." Miss Grimwood pushed Miss Gretel to her feet and gestured back to the school. "Come on, girls. I do believe class is over.

Winnie grumbled, and Sibella stared haughtily at Elsa. Tanis's blush still hadn't faded, but Phanty and Elsa were exchanging cheeky grins.

"Roh roy! Reakrast! (Oh boy! Breakfast!)" Scooby began scampering off towards the school, too.

"Hey, kid!" The voice caught Shaggy, before he could make his own way toward the building. He turned to see a dark figure standing beneath a wide umbrella. The figure nodded towards him. "Yeah. I'm talking to you."  
Cautiously, remembering the possibility of Alister, Shaggy stepped towards the figure. He swallowed as he got closer, but he ended up being more weirded out than frightened. The figure beneath the umbrella looked to be nothing more than a massive worm with a pair of half moon glasses and wearing formal attire. The umbrella was held in one of the worm's coils.

"Salutations, Mister Rogers." The worm made no more motions, aside from his speaking mouth. "It seems you're having a bit of a rough time."

"Kinda, I, like, guess." Shaggy laughed nervously, pointing at the worm.

"Mr. Squirm, I thank you, kindly. I am the literary teacher at Miss Grimwood's, and before you say anything, yes, I am a bookworm." His glasses moved to express his emotions like his nonexistent eyes should have. "And I am not the only surprise viewer of your little performance." He pointed towards the building with his tail.

Shaggy followed the pointing appendage until he was looking at the school. All the windows reflected the sunlight except one on the third floor, just beneath his own window. It was pitch black, seeming to emit the very darkness of night. Swallowing again, he turned to Mr. Squirm. "You mean Alister?"

"Shh!" The bookworm's glasses had grown wide as he leaned towards Shaggy. "Don't say his name! You have no idea what he's like."

Shaggy's face paled. "L-l-l-like, wh-what d-d-d-do you m-m-mean?"

Mr. Squirm's glasses grew into slits. "If you thought today was rough, you're about to have your world rocked this school year."

Ah! A potential mystery! Potential terror! What on Earth have Shaggy and Scooby gotten themselves into now?

Stay tuned to find out.


	4. Chapter 4

Right. Time to continue schooling the ghouls. Or is it Shaggy that's about to get schooled?

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 4: Best to Take It One Thing at a Time

Shaggy nodded in and out of sleep as he walked over to his bedroom door. Unlike the last few days, he had learned to actually listen to the monstrous rooster that always seemed to perch itself on the roof right next to the window of his room. It wasn't really so much the crowing as Scooby slamming into him, seeing how he had taken the time to invest in earplugs. Ever since the Revolta incident, even if he was with the rest of Mystery Inc., he didn't feel safe leaving his ears uncovered while he slept. That, and Scooby's snoring.

Anyways, back to his current state of affairs, Shaggy had showered and changed, leaving Scooby to beat him down to breakfast. Miss Grimwood didn't force him to do any more early, early morning classes after the first one.

"Oh! Like, wait a minute!" Shaggy, his eyes popping open, ran back to his calender. "Li,e what do you know. It's actually, like, the first day of the school." He walked over to the door, taking hold of the knob. "Guess that means that it's time, like, for me to get some breakfast, too."

After walking downstairs, Shaggy laughed at the scene around the table. Miss Grimwood was doing her best to keep a conversation with the mute-by-choice Miss Gretel while the students seemed to be gossiping about something that he couldn't make out. Scooby seemed to be scarfing down food quicker than Mrs. Elmroot could bring it out. However, the troll seemed to be everywhere at once, carrying trays of eggs, toast, bacon, and other food items.

Noticing that the headmistress sat at the head of the table and the girls seemed to make up the side of one table, Shaggy walked over to the teacher's side. There were three empty chairs. "Say, which seat is, like, mine?" He pointed to the furniture in question.

"Whichever one you want." Mrs. Elmroot pulled an empty tray just before the one she had brought out hit the table. "Alister doesn't really come out very often, and Mr. Squirm tends to prefer staying in that hole of his. I can completely understand. It's for his own health, after all. However, that means that there is plenty of room to accommodate you and your dog." She pointed at Scooby with a wooden spoon. "Just look at that dog. He didn't bother asking about where to sit."

Scooby looked up from his plate, looking from side to side. "Rog? Rare? (Dog? Where?)"

Rubbing the great dane on the head, Shaggy laughed. "Like, don't worry about it, Scoob." He sat down in the chair right next to Scooby's. Taking fork and spoon in hand, he looked around the table. "My, oh my." He licked his lips. "Like, would you take a look at all this food? I have, like, no idea where to stat."

"Just eat whatever you wish, Mister Rogers." Miss Grimwood motioned towards the running troll. "Palmyra always makes plenty."

"Yeah, but I still need to take a plate out to Mr. Squirm, before he goes eating up the garden." Mrs. Elmroot pointed Miss Grimwood's belly with her spoon. "So don't get too piggy."

"Well, I suppose that I'll just, like, take you up on the offer, Miss G." Shaggy looked over the wide selection of food there was to choose from. "Like, everything just looks so good."

"I suppose it would, if you don't eat like this everyday." Sibella motioned with her knife to her plate. "However, Mister Rogers, you need to remember that a particularly refined pallet would recognize what is truly worth eating, like this tomato omelette." She sliced a fair piece out of it, stabbed it with her fork, and offered it to Shaggy. "Just take a taste. I promise you that it's just simply fang-tastic!"  
Elsa rolled her eyes. Her lank arm was able to stretch its way down the table to push the fork back towards the young vampiress's mouth. "Keep that stuff to yourself. You don't eat enough as it is."

"I eat just fine." Sibella still took the bite and swallowed daintily. "You have to realize that not all species need to eat the same amount of calories as a hippopotamus." She stared harshly at Elsa. "Yours being one of them. I only really need to get a daily dose of blood, and all you need to do is plug yourself into a wall."

"Oh, that's mature to point out." Elsa metaphorically flipped the comment away with her hand. "We're still flesh and blood, and it wouldn't hurt for you to eat something that would actually help with your health." She plucked a grapefruit off of a nearby plate and offered it to Shaggy. "Now, this is a good way to start breakfast, coach. Along with vitamin C, there's plenty of fiber, and the juicy testure leaves plenty of room for more."

"Like, thanks, Elsa." Shaggy reached forward and took the grapefruit from the oldest student. He slowly picked up his knife, but when he turned back to the citrus on his plate, he was astonished to see that it was already sliced up. His eyes grew in bewilderment.

Winnie was licking her claws off as she looked over at Shaggy. Once clean, she smiled. "You're totally welcome, Coach. However, that's not what you really need." She jumped up on the table, grabbed a piece of bacon off of a nearby serving platter, clenched her teeth around it and turned back to Shaggy. "What a P.E. Teacher really needs is meat." She leaned towards the indicated teacher, smiling as she flicked the piece of pig meat up and down invitingly with her teeth.

Tanis had been shocked by this outburst, but Shaggy just stared blankly at the werewolf. He reached over to the platter and took several pieces of bacon. "Like, thanks for the suggestion, Winnie." He picked up one of his own slices and bit into it. "This is really good."

Miss Grimwood stood up from her chair, which actually took away from the height she had while sitting. She pointed a scolding finger up at Winnie. "Miss Winnie! How many times have I told you to stay off of the table?"

Winnie's ears drooped as she swallowed the bacon like spaghetti. "Sorry, Miss G." She hopped backwards off of the table, flipping as she did so.

"Very well." Miss Grimwood shooed the girls off with her small hands. "Now, now. Seeing how you all seem more ready to play than eat, you all might as well get ready for classes and leave Mister Rogers at peace."

Grumbling came from several of the girls, but Tanis walked out obediently, and Sibella stayed elegantly silent as she sent herself out. However, Phanty leaned over to Winnie and distinctly told her, "I thought that was actually a pretty clever move." This earned her a pointless punch to the shoulder.

Shaggy watched as the girls left. "I do admit, that was, like, a little weird."

"Ruh-huh!" Sscooby turned to give Shaggy a curious look.

Shrugging, Shaggy just continued to shovel food on his plate.

Without the usual mechanical clanking, Mr. Crossedwires entered the dining room. Well, at first glance, it seemed to be Mr. Crossedwires, but a closer look would tell that it was actually Mr. Cogsworth. "My, isn't it good that Oliver isn't a morning person?" He walked over and sat by Shaggy, leaving a seat between him and Miss Gretel. "Now that the gossiping committee is gone, though, maybe you and I could get to know each other."

"I'm afraid there isn't too much time for socializing, Mr. Cogsworth." Miss Grimwood clapped her hands together. "It is a school day, after all."

Surprisingly, Mrs. Elmroot, and not the octopus butler, came rushing out of the kitchen. She deposited a teapot in front of Mr. Cogsworth before rushing out the far door with a covered platter in her hands.

"Very well." Mr. Cogworth placed a few sugar cubes in his cup, before pouring the tea. "So, do the students have their schedules yet?"

"Yes." Miss Grimwood nodded. "You'll be having Sibella first, while Miss Gretel gets Elsa." She gestured to the far door. "Palmyra will have her planning period, first, so she can catch up on her breakfast at the same time."

"Good, good." Mr. Cogsworth chuckled to himself. "So who's the poor fellow who ends up with the young werewolf first thing in the morning?" He took a long sip of tea. "He certainly isn't going to be all that lucky."

"Alister will be teaching her first thing." Miss Grimwood nodded. "If that isn't enough to calm her down in the morning, she will be taking Mister Rogers' class second, anyways."

"Capital idea." Mr. Cogsworth was already pouring his second cup of tea. "I'm just glad I don't have her first. Way to much unrestrained energy."

After Shaggy and Scooby had exchanged confused looks, the human turned to the other teachers. "Um, like, what are you guys, like, talking about?"

"Oh, just class assignments, Mister Rogers." Miss Grimwood raised her hands into the air. "As you'll find, we have five students and six teachers."

"Technically seven." Mr. Cogsworth winked. "But Oliver and I share a class period. It certainly helps that science and math are so closely related."

"Aside from that, of course, this means that there are enough teachers to teach each student one-on-one, and to allow one teacher to have a planning period each hour of schooling.

"Oh. Well, isn't that, like, real nice?" Shaggy looked at Scooby. "We even, like, have two teachers to teach our class."

"Rah! Roo Reachers. (Yeah. Two teachers.)" Scooby snickered.

"Well, well. It really is looking to be a good school year." Miss Grimwood shared a happy nod with Miss Gretel. "IF that is the case, than classes will be starting shortly. Please, hurry up and finish your breakfast."

Like always, Shaggy and Scooby's eating became a total hurricane and chewing and swallowing, nonstop.

Tanis stood quietly as she looked up at her two physical education teachers. "So, what are we going to do today, Mister Rogers."

"Well, that experimental lesson a few days ago, like, really didn't go well, did it?" Shaggy took hold of his chin. "Though, like, it should be a whole lot easier teaching you girls, like, one at a time."

"Rah! Ruch reasier! (Yeah! Much easier!)" Scooby flexed his front paws. "Roving rose rum rurdles rusn't run (Moving those dumb hurdles wasn't fun)."

"Yeah. Those hurdles, like, weren't as good an idea as I had hoped, Scoob." Shaggy turned back to Tanis. "So, like, what should we do?"

"I don't know." Tanis placed a thoughtful finger on her cheek. "You're the teacher, after all, Mister Rogers."

"Yeah. I know." Scooby scratched his head. "Like, this is kind of tough. I'm not sure if you'd do too well with weightlifting or track and field." He turned to Scooby. "Like, what do you think, Scooby, ol' buddy."

"Hmmm." Scooby scratched his own chin as he thought. He soon snapped his fingers and ran off. Hardly more than a second later, he had returned with what looked like cords in his hand. "Rumpropes (Jumpropes)!"

"Like, a totally awesome idea, Scoob!" Shaggy walked over and picked up a jumprope from the dog's hold. He turned to Tanis and smiled. "I think I remember you, like, actually did pretty well with this."

"Yeah." Tanis skipped from one foot to the other, winking. "I'm sure I can jumprope pretty well, Mister Rogers."  
"That's great to, like, hear." Shaggy handed the jumprope in his hand to the little mummy. He took another from Scooby and smiled. "This should, like, be a great way to exercise. And we can, like, all do it together."  
"Rabsolutely (Absolutely)." Scooby hummed as he began to skip over his rope. He started performing by switching from forwards to backwards jumping and back again, along with other kinds of small tricks.

"Like, oh brother. What a ham!" Shaggy shook his head and rolled his eyes as he jumped over his own rope.

"I think that looks like fun." Tanis smiled as she skipped over her own rope merrily.

Unfortunately, the lesson didn't go so smoothly throughout the assigned hour. During his performing, Scooby had wound himself up in his jumprope, so he looked like a mummy, too. Tanis was enjoying herself so much that she didn't noticing that one of her lagging bandages caught hold of the rope and began to swing along with it. Within minutes, she was completely incapacitated by her wrappings.

"Yoinks. Like, oh my gosh." Shaggy ran over to help untie Tanis, but he found that adding the jumprope into the equation definitely complicated things. "Holy cow! This is, like, tight."

Scooby hopped over to the other two, whining lightly as he pointed to the end of the rope. "Reggy. Relp re! (Shaggy. Help me!)"

"Huh?" Shaggy turned to look at the tied up dog. "Oh wow! You, too?" He took hold of the end of the jumprope. "Like, here you go." He pulled hard on the rope, sending Scooby spinning.

Having spun like a tornado for a brief moment, Scooby grabbed his head until he steadied himself. He gave a large grin and snickered.

"Oh brother, Scoob." Shaggy turned back to Tanis and began pulling bandages agan. "Like, how much of this stuff is there?"

"My mummy daddy put more on me than usual last time he visited." Tanis struggled against the wrap. "He said I needed room to grow."

"Room to grow, huh?" Shaggy paused for a moment. "Like, hey! What exactly do you, like, look like beneath all these bandages?"

Blushing slightly, Tanis shrugged. "I don't know, Mister Rogers. I've never seen any part of my body without bandages."

"Well, isn't that, like, odd." Shaggy beckoned Scooby over. "Hey, Scoob? Think you can, like, do anything?"

Scooby pulled a pair of comically large glasses from behind his back and put them on. He walked over and looked down at the little girl. After a moment of studying her, he grabbed an end of bandage and pulled.

"Ow!" Tanis winced at the tug.

"Rorry (Sorry)." Scooby took his glasses off and shrugged. "Rye've rot rothing (I've got nothing)."

"Like, oh boy." Shaggy thunked himself in the forehead. He turned back and looked at the mummy. "Maybe we should, like, go see Mrs. Elmroot or something."

Tanis could only nod as Shaggy picked her up and walked towards the school.

"Yahoo!" Winnie came bounding from the school, waving her hands high in the air as she jumped up and down. "How you doing, Coach?"

"Like, just great ,Winnie." Shaggy waited for the young werewolf until he realized something just a little too late. "Woah! Like, wait, Winnie! Wait!" He held his arms up protectively.

The man was knocked over as Winnie pounced on top of him, sending them both skidding backwards a few feet. "Hey, Coach." Winnie smiled cheekily.

"Yeah. Hey." Shaggy pushed himself off of the ground, coming into contact with the werewolf's chest. "Um, like, Winnie. Do you mind, like, getting up?"

"Oh!" Winnie leaped backwards a couple of times. "Sorry about that."

"Like, it's no problem, Winnie." Shaggy brushed himself off as he stood up. He smiled. "So, like, what do you want to do for class?"

"I don't know." Winnie tilted her head away from Shaggy, still smiling broadly. "What do you want to do?"

Raising an eyebrow, Shaggy turned to Scooby. "Like, what do you think, Scoob?"

"Rye ron't row (I don't know)." Scooby walked over to Shaggy and looked around. He soon snorted in exasperation. "Ro ryedea (No idea)."

"Like, none whatsoever?" As he watched Scooby shake his head, Shaggy took hold of his own chin, scratching the scruff. He turned back to Winnie. "Um, like, I don't know. Is there anything you feel that you're, like, having trouble with, physically?"  
"What do you think?" Winnie asked, posing the best she could to magnify her already abundant curves, even letting her tail wave cutely in the wind.

"Hmm." Shaggy looked Winnie up and down. "That's, like, a good question." He turned to look at Scooby. "I mean, Winnie's, like, well exercised all around. She's fast, like, doesn't lose her breath very easily, and she's very acrobatic." He scratched the back of his head. "I suppose there's not much we can, like, really teach her."

"Rame. (Game.)" Scooby grinned.

"Game?" Shaggy nodded, smiling. "Like, that's a great idea, Scoob." He turned back to Winnie and walked towards her. "So, like, how about it, Winnie? What sort of game would you, like, want to play?"

Letting her breath out in shocked exasperation, Winnie didn't answer quickly. She soon shook her head and frowned. After a moment of thought, though, a mischievous grin reappeared on her face. "How about football?"

"Like, it seemed that you were having trouble, like, with those hurdles yesterday." Shaggy nodded towards Sibella. "So how about we try helping with your running?"

"Whatever you say, Mister Rogers." Sibella grinned, bearing her fangs proudly. "I'm sure any idea you have would be simply fang-tastic."

"All right." Shaggy turned to Scooby. "You mind, like, running alongside her, Scoob? Winnie really, like, kind of knocked the wind out of me."

"Rokay, Raggy (Okay, Shaggy)." Scooby walked over to stand beside Sibella by the running track. He held his position beside the vampire.

"Now, Sibella, we'll, like, want to improve your lung capacity first," Shaggy called through a cupped hand. "So take things, like, slow and steady. Not too fast, now."

"All right, Mister Rogers." Sibella, despite her athletic shorts, did an elegant curtsy before turning back to the race track. Starting by herself, she jogged alongside Scooby around the track.

"Very good, Sibella." Shaggy nodded to himself. _Maybe we can actually get through a class without any problems._

Shaggy's wish did not come true, though, as on the third time aroud, Sibella fell, skidding to the ground.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy jumped up and ran over to the fallen vampire. He looked her over quickly. "Sibella, did anything, like, happen?"

"I don't know." Sibella pushed her violet hair out of her face. "I just fell is all."

Scooby paced back to where the other two were. "Ree rooks rine (She looks fine)."

"I, like, know, Scoob. But we can't, like, be too sure." Shaggy never took his eyes off of the vampire. "Are you, like, all right?"

"I'm not sure." Sibella placed a hand on one of her ankles. "I think this might be twisted, though."

"Oh, well, that's, like, not too bad." Shaggy laughed lightly. "Let's take a look."

"Well, if you insist." Sibella shot the indicated leg up and perpendicular to Shaggy's face. "It does hurt."

Shaggy ignored the long leg in front of him and scooted down to the ankle and looked it over. "Like, what do you think, Scoob."

Scooby trotted down beside Shaggy and looked at the ankle. Having as much medical knowledge as Shaggy, though, the best she could do was shrug.

"Like, I was afraid of that." Shaggy looked down at the ankle again. He touched it gingerly. "Does that, like, hurt?"

The reaction was slower than it should have been, but Sibella still winced. "Y-yes."

"Um... uh..." Shaggy chewed on his nails. "Maybe we should take you inside. Do you think you can, like, fly."  
"Not really." Sibella held her hand out pathetically. "I think I sprained my wrist, too." She pouted. "Do you think you could... carry me, Mister Rogers?"  
"Yeah. Yeah. Like, sure." Not thinking about the logic behind getting a sprained wrist from falling while running, Shaggy leaned over and picked up the young vampiress, letting her wrap her arms around his neck. He didn't pay mind to how she stared at his neck as he walked towards the school.

Scooby rolled his eyes at Shaggy as Phantasma floated in circles around them.

"So, like, what do you, like, want to do in this class, Phanty?" Shaggy held a hand out to stop the ghost girl, but she phased through it.

"What can I do, Sugar?" Phanty sat, cross-legged, in midair. "I can't build muscle mass, so weight training and running are out. Swimming and jumping rope are great exercises, too, but I don't have limited stamina. Basic exercise is useless. Dancing might help with poise, but let's face it. Sugar, ya'll are not a dance instructor."

"Ree ras a roint (She has a point)." Scooby stood beside Shaggy, tilting his head back and forth. "Rut roo ree roo (What do we do?"

"Like, I'm not sure, Scoob." Shaggy watched Phanty float past him again. "Are you, like, saying you just want to skip this class totally, Phanty."  
Phantasma flipped upside-down. "Not at all, Sugar." Her eyes half-lidded, she grinned. "I just wish there was something more productive I could be doing."

"Well, this class is, like, really more for fun than anything." Shaggy pointed an absentminded finger at the ghost. "So, like, do you want to play a game or anything?"

"Fun?" Phantasma twisted in the air. With speed like lightning, she passed through Scooby's chest, hung there, and stuck her hands inside Shaggy's.

Both physical education teachers were screaming their heads off.

"Ya'll want to have fun?" Phanty's smile grew. "How about I just pull that pretty little heart out of yar chest?"

Panting, Shaggy could feel the sweat on his brow. "L-l-like, wh-what d-d-d-did you s-s-s-s-say?"

"Ya'll heard me, Sugar." Phanty winked. "Just let me pull that there heart out of yar chest. I promise it won't hurt ya'll none."

The color drained from Scooby's face as he pulled out of the reach of Phanty's body. Shaggy had beat him to white, though.

After a tense moment, Phanty pulled her hands out of Shaggy and laughed. "Kidding! I know ya'll can't live without a heart. That really wouldn't be nice of me to take it, now. Would it?"

"Wh-wh-what?" Shaggy's teeth were chattering. "Why w-would you, l-l-like, do th-that?"

"Oh, I didn't mean to hurt ya'll none." Phanty pushed her hat up and winked. "That was just something Alister taught me. Ya'll don't mind if I practice on ya'll, right, Sugar?"

Scooby and Shaggy both moaned and fainted.

"Finally, like, a normal class." Shaggy chuckled to himself as he pumped a single arm with a small dumbbell in hand.

"Rah (Yeah)!" Scooby was bench pressing about a hundred pounds, laughing.

"Like, nothing to restart the old heart like good, ol', down-to-earth exercise."

Scooby simply snickered. After spending a class with Phanty, any other class seemed like a safe haven, even the idea of swimming in the shark-filled moat seemed more enticing.

"I don't know, Coach." Elsa stood in the middle of the room, pumping a massive set of dumbbells with one hand. "Isn't physical education supposed to be a more social class."

Shaggy did a double take as he turned to answer his student. "Elsa! Like, how much weight is that?"

"Oh, this?" Elsa gestured with her head to the weight in her hand. "I don't know. Five hundred pounds?"

"Five hundred pounds!" Shaggy stared in awe at the tall girl. "Th-that's incredible, Elsa!"

"Really?" Elsa's face became tinted red. "I don't know. It's really nothing special. I can lift more."

"More?" Shaggy looked over at Scooby. "You hear that, Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' pal o' mine. She's, like, lifting five hundred pounds with one arm, and she, like, says she can lift more."

"Rore (More)?" Scooby looked up from his lifting and placed his weights to the side. He stood up and walked up beside Shaggy.

"It's really not that big of a deal. Really." Elsa rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. "I'm a little out of practice."

"How much do you think you could, like, lift, Elsa?" Shaggy stared incredulously.

"I don't know." Elsa's blush deepened. "Depends on how much time we spend lifting together."

"Rat's rarazing (That's amazing)!" Scooby gawked at the massive weight.

"You, like, bet it is, Scoob."

"Honestly, it's not that big of a deal." Her blush deepening, Elsa's eyes shifted towards Shaggy. "Are you really that impressed?"

Sitting in their planning period, which was the last hour of the school day, Shaggy sat back in a chair in the dining room, tapping his chin with a pencil. "Say, Scoob?"

"Rut (What)?" Scooby looked over from the sandwich he had just made.

"Did it, like, seem that the girls were acting weird to you today?"

"Reird (Weird)?" Scooby raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Like, I think Winnie was letting me tackle her anytime I did, seeing how she could, like, plow us both over. Sibella really seemed, like, upset about falling, too." Shaggy motioned exaggeratedly with his arms. "And Elsa was, like, blushing for some reason. Blushing!" He placed his hands behind his head. "I didn't even think she could blush."

Scooby shrugged as he chewed on his sandwich.

Shaggy chuckled. "Yeah. You're, like, probably right, Scoob. I'm just, like, probably overreacting."

I thought this chapter should be more fun. Oh, and just so everyone realizes, Sibella's injuries were one hundred percent fake.

Please, enjoy and review.


	5. Chapter 5

All right. Just a bit of forewarning. This isn't going to be an long story. Just ten to fifteen chapters. I don't want to hear a whole lot of grief for time skips or only covering so many days in this story. It's not like they covered that much in the original movie, either, and they covered at least a semester there.

I don't want to be rude. I just want to explain myself, and hope you'll understand my shortcomings.

Oh well, enjoy!

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 5: Don't Play With Matches

Shaggy and Scooby stretched as they laid out on the roof of the castle.

Shaggy laughed. "Like, hey, Scoob. Would you have ever guessed that there'd be as much, like, sun around here."

"Nuh-uh." Scooby grinned as sat up. He raised his sunglasses and looked up at the sky, before quickly falling back into his tanning position.

"Well, you boys sure look like you're having fun." Mrs. Elmroot walked up to the two physical education teachers, wearing a tropical one piece and carrying a towel in one arm. "Have enough room in your party for one more."

Shaggy and Scooby both sat blot upright, staring at the fire troll.

"Rut the reck (What the heck)!" Scooby's eyes grew wide as he pointed at Mrs. Elmroot. "Roo rould of rought (Who would have thought)?"

"Like, yeah, Mrs. Elmroot." Shaggy was gesturing like Scooby. "What is, like, going on?"

"Girl's got to keep her tan up." Mrs. Elmroot smiled back as she laid her towel out. "I mean, you think Miss Grimwood was allergic to sunlight with that stupid weather spell of hers."

"Weather spell?" Scooby and Shaggy looked at each other and said the same thing simultaneously. The human turned back to the troll. "Miss G actually uses a weather spell to keep all those clouds around."

"Oh, it's a nasty business, working with that woman." Mrs. Elmroot laid herself out on her towel. "I swear, if she didn't have me around, she'd have those girls so backwards, that they'd confuse the technology and the dark ages, let alone where the stone age fits into all of it." She sighed. "Sure, it gives the image, but I really find it so ridiculous. I can't respect the style one bit."  
Scooby frowned. "Ro, rut rid roo roo rarout the reather rell (So, what did you do about the weather spell)?"

"Oh, it was nothing." Mrs. Elmroot raised her hands in the air and made a tearing motion. "You just need to find the cauldron that bunch of voodoo junk is in."

"Wow." Shaggy laughed nervously as he laid down again. "I didn't, like, think you could do that."

"Don't underestimate a troll, boy. Especially a fire troll." Mrs. Elmroot raised a scolding finger. "When we get irritated enough, there are very few feats of strength we can't achieve."

"I'll have to, like, remember that, Mrs. Elmoort." Shaggy could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise, despite the September afternoon being fairly warm for the time of year.

"Oh, tish tosh." Mrs. Elmroot waved a dismissive hand. "I might be nearly thirty years your senior, Shaggy, but don't go calling me Missus anything. Despite being a finishing school, this place is very informal. Call me Palmyra."

"Ralright, Ralmryra (Alright, Palmyra)." Scooby shrugged himself back into tanning. The warm afternoon was much to his liking.

In fact, Shaggy and Scooby, in the month after they had arrived at Miss Grimwood's, had both noticed that Mrs. Elmroot's had made the school much more habitable. The food was generally basic human cuisine, the weather was rather nice, and the octopus butler had done much better at keeping up with groundskeeping. Sure, the spiders, bats, snakes, and other crawlies still got to hang around the old house, but everything was much cleaner.

"Blasted woman thinks she just tear everything up whenever I leave for so much as a week." Mrs. Elmroot fidgeted as she stayed on the ground.

Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "Um, like, Missus- I mean, Palmyra."

A brief snort gave the impression that the fire troll had quickly fallen asleep beneath the sun. "Oh, uh, what is it?"

"Oh, nothing much." Shaggy shrugged. "I was just, like, wondering how you were a missus."

"Ah, that!" Mrs. Elmroot smiled. "Well, Horace is an older forest troll. It was sort of an arranged marriage, but I still love him. Great guy, but his hearing left him shortly after the age of fifty. Now, it's a thing of beauty, when doctors aren't keeping him shut up for research or study or to keep him up and running and such." She shook her head. "Poor Horace has to go through all that by himself, too. If it wasn't for how much the pay helped with the medical bills, I probably wouldn't be working here."

"Like, wow." Shaggy took hold of his chin. "Is hearing loss, like, that big of a deal?"

"It is for a troll." Mrs. Elmroot tugged on her large ear. "Unlike ogres, these things aren't so big just for show. We rely on our hearing almost as much as we do our smell." She let go of her ear and waved her hand in the air again. "It'd be like if your dog were to lose his hearing. It's almost essential to life, let about to thrive outside hospital walls."

"Rog (Dog)?" Scooby sat up, looking around. "Rare (Where)?"

Mrs. Elmroot raise an eyebrow in Shaggy's direction. "Is that pup really that du-"

Shaggy raised a finger to his lips, motioning for silence.

"Ah, it's like that." Mrs. Elmroot returned her attention to the sun. "So what's it like being a human, anyways? I mean, technology is nice, but there seems to be little that you guys seem to be able to do without it. You don't run too fast, you're not too terribly strong, and you have to go through some pretty critical training in order to have much agility or stamina." She tapped her chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, how did you even make such a position as physical education teacher for a school of monsters?"

"That's, like, a really good question." Shaggy paused a moment, thinking it over. "I mean, it'd be like me, like, asking you what it's like to be a monster. I really can't, like, give you a fair comparison or anything."

"Good point. Good point." Mrs. Elmroot nodded sagely. "It's just that humans have these really fascinating cultures. Sure, we still have rather close lifestyles, but you're all so technology-based and have all these big cities and everything." She sighed warmly. "It's just amazing to think about how a species with such limited abilities make for such proficient breeders, too. Overpopulation was never something I expected from anyone."

"Yeah. That, like, never worried me, either." Shaggy laughed. "We're just, like, so used to how we live, I guess."

"Makes perfect sense." Mrs. Elmroot's smile grew. "I probably wouldn't have asked for a better answer."

Suddenly, Miss Gretel hopped her way into everyone's line of sight, and she waved. She pointed at herself, clad in a very modest one piece, her towel, and to a spot by Mrs. Elmroot.

"Yes. You can lay down, too, Hilda." Mrs. Elmroot rolled her eyes. "It's not like there's limited space on this old roof or anything."

Miss Gretel clapped her hands together and smiled. She skipped her way over and began laying her place out. She even pulled out a bottle of sun block from her bag.

"Ro, rut's rer rory (So, what's her story)?"Scooby pointed over at the witch.

Crinkling her nose, Mrs. Elmroot looked over at Scooby. "What'd he say?"

"He's wants to, like, know about Miss Gre- I mean, Hilda." Shaggy pointed alongside his dog. "Like, what's with the far out voice and her being here and all that."

"Of course. I should have guessed that." Mrs. Elmroot pointed over at the witch beside her. "You see, Hilda's one of those new style witches. You know, psychics or whatever they calm 'em these days." She laid her hand back down and nodded. "The voice thing is anyone's guess, seeing how everyone goes comatose for about a day, if they listen to her for much more than three sentences." She laid a large hand on Miss Gretel's shoulder. "Not that anyone's blaming you, of course, dear."

Miss Gretel nodded as she leaned slowly onto her towel.

"So, like, do you guys do this often?" Shaggy pushed Scooby's mouth shut to keep the snoring quieter. "I mean, it must be, like, a little weird for you guys to dress like that. I'm even, like, wearing actual clothes and everything."

"Not really." Mrs. Elmroot closed her eyes and exhaled softly. "We tend to do this every Saturday. You actually surprised me, when I saw you up here."

"I guess that'd make sense." Shaggy paused a moment. "Now that I, like, think about it, though, whatever, like, happened to the Calloway Cadets?"

"You mean the school just over and yon that Miss Grimwood decided to become so closely attached to?" Mrs. Elmroot smirked. "It got closed down."

"Closed down!" Shaggy jumped into a sitting position and looked over at the troll. "Like, what do you mean 'closed down'?"

"It's as I said." Mrs. Elmroot shrugged. "It didn't really surprise me. At least, not as long as it stayed open." She began absentmindedly motioning one of her hands through the air again. "Let's face it, human-monster relations have always been shaky, but having schools so close that conflicted so much? There really wasn't a lot of logic behind it, as that dumb engine would tell you." She paused, twitching her finger a bit. "However, once the boys started talking about rescuing the girls from a witch's hut and the butler and out school overall, parents became concerned. Soon, protests came in from several communities about how our school should be closed down, but seeing how we had legal precedence and had been on this land much longer, there really wasn't much contest as to who had to close down and leave." She took a deep breath and sighed. "It's just as well. The boys might have been acting much more friendly than anticipated, but that was simply circumstantial. As soon as they fully realized that the girls were monsters, there would have been nothing but ugliness about it."

"Oh, wow." Shaggy took hold of his chin. "Like, I suppose you're right. However, it's still kind of, like, sad to think about."

"I suppose so." Mrs. Elmroot pursed her lips. "I just hope you realize that not all humans would accept monsters as well as you do." She laughed, snorting occasionally. "I mean, how many people do you honestly think would sit on the same roof as a troll and a witch in order to sunbathe."

"Like, not many, I suppose." Shaggy chuckled hollowly. "I can't, like, really say that much about it, though. I'm not, like, everyone in the world."

"I guess not." One of Mrs. Elmroot's ears twitched, and she smiled. "We're about to get some company, though."  
"Huh?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow.

The answer came immediately as Scooby's yelping sounded behind Shaggy. Mrs. Elmroot jumped up and landed on the side of the roof, but Miss Gretel went flying over the edge like Scooby have had. Her quick scream left the remaining two teachers. Mrs. Elmroot swayed slightly, holding her head, before she fell off the edge as well. She was able to right herself. Her large feet gripped the side of the building, and she pushed herself powerfully away, grumbling as she landed on the ground across the moat. She waved her still dry hair as she turned to face the roof, smiling as she shook her head.

After he was able to correct his head from Miss Gretel's mind-numbing shout, Shaggy looked around himself to see the five students standing around him.

"Hey, Mister Rogers." Sibella held her hand over her eyes as she looked up at the sky. "Oh my. It looks like I'm going to need some more sunscreen." She pulled out a bottle of sun lotion from her thin belt, reading SPF 10,000 on the front.

"Say, Sugar Doll, mind if I use some of that there stuff, too?" Phanty smiled as she floated by the young vampire. "I really don't want to lose this pleasant pallor of mine." She laughed. "Then again, I don't really absorb sunlight worth none, either."

"Do you have any idea how exasperating that's getting?" Sibella shook her head, lathering her arms with the lotion. "Really, as if you weren't enough of a pain about that before, you've gotten to be really intolerable ever since Mister Rogers got here. What ever happened to just teasing everyone."

"Ah, but I am still teasing ya'll, Sugar Doll." Phanty spun her way over to Shaggy and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm teasing ya'll about how you actually have to work to keep that white skin you're so proud of."

Sibella fumed silently, her pupils narrowing as she looked over in the ghost's direction. "Well, at least I have the sense to actually wear a swimsuit." She motioned to her dark violet bikini.

"Ya'll are right." Phanty grinned slyly. "Then ya'll better make a good effort in making the best of that there suit of yar's." She let go of Shaggy and sped over to the vampire.

Sibella simply huffed as she turned into a bat. She flew right over Phanty, leaving the ghost to fly over the edge. Phanty comically flailed in the air. She finally gave up, shrugging as she fell to the water below.

"You really shouldn't be picking on Phanty like that, Sibella." Elsa snagged the flying bat easily. "Especially when you think about the fact that she's my best friend." She hurled the bat over the edge as well.

Sibella quickly changed from her bat form and smiled. She righted herself up and stuck her legs together. She cleanly entered the water without so much as a splash. She soon popped out of the water and waved back up at the top of the school. "Nice try, Miss Frankenteen, but you'd better try harder next time."

"Oh, you'll see harder." Elsa gave an uncharacteristically sadistic grin as she tensed her legs. She leaped high in the air, curling herself up in a ball as she left the side of the roof. She quickly sped down to the water, holding her arms to her sides and keeping her feet and legs together. Aiming her head down first, the air began to pulse with the force surrounding her as she rushed down. The water practically exploded as she made her aquatic impact.

Sibella sturdied herself as the splash came her direction. She raised a scolding finger. "There really wasn't much there, tho-" A unexpected bolt of electricity streamed through the water towards her and blasted her with full force. She felt her hair. "Oh, you so did not just mess up my hair! Due you know how long it's going to take to get rid of this static?"

"That just isn't playing fair!" Winnie growled down from her position on the roof. You think you can just pull a cheap shot like that?" She jumped off and quickly curled into a full cannonball, aiming straight for the oldest girl.

"Um, well," Shaggy scratched his cheek as he looked down at the moat, "maybe today, like, isn't such a good day to go for a swim." He swallowed awkwardly.

"I really don't like how the girls have been acting recently, Mister Rogers." Tanis scratched the side of her head.

"Yeah. I've been noticing that they've been acting weird, too." Shaggy's eyes shot wide open. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Scoob! Like, get out of there!"

Sputtering, Scooby pulled himself over the side of the roof. He frowned as he stood up. Soaking wet from head to toe, he grumbled as he spat a fish into his paw.

"Oh, I guess you, like, got the memo." Shaggy laughed heartily. "Sorry about that, though. I, like, wasn't expecting everyone up here so suddenly.

Scooby simply twisted around and fell back down on the roof, waiting for more sun.

Yay! More development for teachers! More fun to be had! More story to wait for!

Please, enjoy and review.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Big Man on Campus

A chill, October breeze entered the window and rolled its way across the room. The crisp air struck Shaggy in the face, and his nose twitched. He rolled away from the wind and pulled his blanket up tight. "Scoob, could you, like, close the window, ol' buddy? That's getting to be, like, quite a draft that's flowing in here.

After a moment, Shaggy tossed and turned some more, grimacing as the wind continued assaulting him. "Scoob, like, really! That wind's really not feeling too good." Another moment longer, he sat up in bed and snapped towards Scooby's direction. "Scoob!"

The only replying sound was the flapping curtains on the window as Scooby-Doo's bed lay empty, covers and blankets strewn across the floor. The window was wide open, letting in the wind and the light of the morning.

"Scoob?" Shaggy stared blearily at the scene until he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "Like, Scoob?" When his vision cleared up, he jumped up from his own bed, sprawling his own blankets on the floor. "Scoob! Like, Scooby-Doo, where are you?"

The wind settled down a bit, but there was no other answer than a the chill air.

Shaggy grabbed his arms and rubbed them swiftly, his teeth chattering. "This is, like, nothing to get worked up about, Shaggy, ol' boy." He gave a hollow chuckle. "Why, Scoob's probably, like, downstairs, getting out of this wind and, like, into a hot bowl of oatmeal or something." He walked over and shut the window. "Yeah. That's, like, exactly what he did." He placed a hand on his stomach. "And that should be what I do, too, before this wind kills me."

Yawning, Shaggy quickly changed into his regular clothes and went out the door. He walkedc down the stairs and into the eating area.

Around the table, everyone was enjoying a hot breakfast. Well, everyone except the apparent Mr. Crossedwires, who constantly grumbled to himself as he downed some strange, clear blue liquid, most likely antifreeze."

Miss Grimwood smiled as she noticed Shaggy. "Why, Mister Rogers, how are you doing?" She stood up and walked over to the tall man. "I have some great news for you."

"Well, that's, like, great and all, Miss G, but have you seen Scoob around?" Shaggy looked around the table to see that his faithful great dane was still missing. "He wasn't, like, up in our room, or anything."

"Why no." Miss Grimwood placed a concerned hand over her mouth. "I have heard anything out of Mister Doo today at all. I certainly hope Matches didn't get into one of those restless fits and decided to eat him or something."

As Shaggy blanched, a wooden spoon knocked the headmistress in the back of the head. "Oh, knock it off, will you?" Mrs. Elmroot shouted. "The poor boy's shaking like a leaf already, and he doesn't need you telling those fitful horror stories of yours. You know full well that Matches only eats hot dogs."

"And metal." Mr. Crossedwires growled, raising an arm. "I've had to replace this twice because of that bloated lizard!"

"Right. Right." Miss Grimwood rubbed the back of her head, still smiling. "I know Matches better than that, anyways. I'm sure Mister Doo is all right. However, I do have some important news to tell you." She turned and cupped one of her small hands around her mouth. "Oh, Jackie."

Someone stood up at the table that Shaggy had never seen before, and was surprised he hadn't seen until now. Head all but crushing its way through the ceiling, the boyish face smiled awkwardly. He waved one of his massive hands slowly. He didn't wear much of a shirt, and his snug jeans were torn in several places. Chains hung off of him in place of a belt and jacket, mainly wrapped around his torso and shoulders.

"Mister Rogers, I would like to introduce young Jackie-in-Irons to you." Miss Grimwood gestured to the giant. "He's only nineteen, but I do believe he'd make a very usable assistant in physical education. There is little that can physically wear out a giant."

"It'd be a real pleasure to help you out, Mister Rogers." Jackie walked around the table to the human and held out a massive paw of a hand. "I mean, I guess I'm still kind of young to be much more than a student-teacher. Especially by monster standards."

"Oh, well, like, it's okay." Shaggy shook the hand numbly, ignoring the crushing grip. _But where the heck is Scoob?_

Tanis stared up the great height of Jackie. "Wow, you're really tall."

"Oh, not really, by giant standards. I'm only about ten feet tall." Jackie chuckled lightly. "You should see my dead. Now that's tall for you. Sixty-four and a half feet tall." He pointed up at the sky. "Of course, Uncle Jackson is a real giant's giant, standing at more than a hundred feet. It does worry that rest of us that he insists on living in the clouds."

"Wow." Tanis looked straight up. "That really is kind of scary, even to be living up there." She twirled one of her fingers in a bandage ponytail. "Of course, that might just be because my house is underground."

"True. I guess you mummies don't enjoy a lot of air time. Then again," Jackie stomped on the ground, "the saying does go, 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'." He swallowed lightly.

"Well, then, let's, like, be glad that we're just down here, and not, like, up there." Shaggy chuckled nervously. "Who's up for, like, some running? It'll keep us warm, and it should, like, really help your stamina, Tanis."

"Okay, Mister Rogers, but where should we jog to?" Tanis stared up at Shaggy curiously.

"I'm, like, not sure." Shagggy took hold of his chin and thought. "It'd probably be best to avoid the swamp, given what happened last time."

Tanis nodded. "But I'm not sure if my bandages can take much more of the track. I always end up getting stuck and tied up."

"Well, the swamp shouldn't be too bad of an idea." Jackie walked over to the edge of the trees. "I mean, if there's quicksand, I'm not a big fan of that, but the extra terrain should help build even extra endurance." He raised up a booted foot. "I mean, a trre root never hurt anyone." He stomped down hard on the nearest, moss-covered root.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a root. With a loud roar, a much more mature Matches erupted out of the dense greenery, headfirst, his smashed tail in tow and flames erupting from the front. Jackie was only lucky enough to have a reactive headstart.

Shaggy grabbed Tanis's hand and began running as well. "Then again, like, nothing gets your heartbeat up and your lungs pumping like a thousand meter chase for your life!"  
-

Winnie grinned up at Shaggy, football in hand. "You ready to throw the ol' pigskin around, Coach? Should be a great way to keep warm in this cold air."

"You're probably, like, right, Winnie." Shaggy was doubled over, still out of breath. "However, I might not be able to keep up with you today. Matches really, like, made me beat." He gestured over to his giant assistant. "Maybe I could, like, just referee, like Scooby usually d-" He froze as he mentioned the dog's name.

"Um, Coach?" Winnie waved a hand in front of the teacher's face. "You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah." Shaggy gestured wildly back at the giant. "However, maybe Jackie should, like, play with you for now. I just, like, need a moment to catch my breath."

"I wouldn't mind playing a game or two." Jackie walked over beside Winnie and smiled warmly. "I'll try to go easy on you, though. I realize that, as a giant, let alone a musclebound guy, that I have a bit of an unfair advantage." He patted the girl on the head. "Not to be stereotyping or anything, but I might just end up crushing you flat, if this gets too intense."

Winnie simply growled as she stared up at the young giant, her eyes growing more and more animalistic.

"Like, it should be good exercise for both of you." Shaggy just turned around to find himself a spot to sit down, when he heard a brief groan and a heavy thud. He turned around swiftly to see Jackie curled up on the ground, moaning. "Like, what happened?"

"I don't know." Winnie shrugged, smiling at herself. "I guess chainhead just doesn't want to play." She threw the ball to Shaggy and followed it quickly. She tackled her teacher to the ground, making it a point to grab him in a tight hug, pressing their torsos tightly together. "So, what do you think now, Coach? Ready to play?"

"Just give me a few minutes, Winnie." Shaggy let go of the ball and laid flat on the ground. "I just need to catch my breath."

"Okay." The werewolf rolled off of the human and sat down. She patted the ground next to her. "A bit of cooling off is just as good."

Shaggy simply sat up where he was already laying. "Yeah. Especially when you've nearly been cooked."

Patting his giant assistant on the shoulder, Shaggy smiled. "Like, looks like you're feeling better."

"No thanks to that stupid little furball." Jackie grimaced slightly. "Does she always act like that?"

"Not usually." Sibella sauntered her way between the two male educators. "She's really been acting very strangely lately. I must be the moon or something."

Jackie took a step back. "You're not going to act like her, too are you?"

Sibella's eyes glinted. "Now, now. Certainly you must have a few bats in the attic, if you don't realize that there's a big difference between vampires and werewolves, Jackie-boy." She smiled, revealing her fangs. "Of course, I guess you giants simply always have your heads stuck in the clouds."  
"Hey, just who do you think you-" Jackie stopped as his eyes met Sibella's. His jaw went a little slack, and he swallowed lightly. "Right. I guess I can't really say that I've met a vampire before."

"Then you've got a lot to learn." Sibella turned to Shaggy. "Speaking of learning, what have you got planned for class today, Mister Rogers."  
"Well," Shaggy scratched the back of his head, "there's not much I can really say. I'm not, like, so sure I want you running anymore, what with, like, how many times you've sprained your ankle." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Anything else you, like, think you could use physically?"

"I'm not sure." Sibella waved her hair in front of her face. "It's not like I really do much around the castle back home, and it's not like we're training for the classic volleyball game anymore."

"So, like, what?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "Phanty, like, pretty much uses this class to practice her scare tactics and stuff. Do you, like, want to do that?" His smiled became a little awkward.

"Oh, of course not. My father would become completely winged out, if I thought of doing something so beneath me." Sibella posed dramatically. "A vampire should be feared for what it is."  
"Then, do you want to, like, just skip physical education all together?" Shaggy pointed curiously at Sibella. "I mean, with this year's record, it's pretty obvious that this class is doing you more harm than good."

"Please, don't even insinuate such a thing, Mister Rogers." Sibella wavered on her feet slightly, taking hold of her head. "Of course, I have been feeling a bit peckish. It probably isn't that good to have a class like this before lunch."

"Maybe not, but it's, like, never phased me before." Shaggy watched the wavering vampire. "However, you really don't, like, look too good."  
"I'm not feeling fang-tastic, either. In fact, I might just-" Before she could finish, the young vampire collapsed to the ground.

Jumping nearly three feet in the air, Shaggy began pulling at his hair and yelling wildly. He soon stopped, looked back down at Sibella, and swallowed. "Hurry, Jackie! Like, take Sibella to the school. Get her some medical attention immediately!"

Jackie snapped out of staring at the girl. "Oh, yeah, right." He scooped up the collapsed vampire in his giant hands, turned to the school, and sped off.

Shaggy began chewing on his nails. "Oh, great! Like, first Scoob disappears, and now the Count's probably gonna suck me dry!"

As the class bell rang, Phanty popped out of the ground and laughed wildly. When she didn't hear any screaming, she placed a thoughtful finger on her chin and looked down at her teacher. "Say, what's wrong with ya'll, Sugar?" She swung low by the seated Shaggy. "Don't ya'll remember that this is the part where ya'll gets scared and all?"

"Like, sorry, Phanty." Shaggy turned a glance towards the young ghost. "I'm just not, like, having that great of a day."

"What's wrong, Sugar?" Phanty sat down on the ground next to the human. "It can't be that bad."

"That bad?" Shaggy waved his hands wildly in the air. "Like, Scoob's gone, Sibella's been toasted, and my neck hangs in the balance every second of my stinking life!"

"Hm. That does sound pretty bad, Sugar." Phanty nodded sagely. She pulled her hat over her eyes and hummed to herself. After a moment, she snapped her fingers and flicked her hat up. "Well, it's fortunate for ya'll that I know just who to call in this sort of instance. I'll just check back with ya'll soon." She floated up in the air.

"Phanty, like, wait!" Shaggy reached up in the air after the giggling ghost. "I'm not sure if I can, like, risk my neck with letting you skip class."

"Don't ya'll worry none, Sugar." Phanty flew back down, tapped Shaggy on the nose, and winked. "Trust me. Ya'll are going to like what I've got planned." Before anything else could be said, she disappeared back into the school building.

"Great. Like, just great." Shaggy flopped back onto the ground, moaning slightly. After a moment, he raised his head back up. "I, like, wonder what's taking Jackie so long. It really shouldn't have, like, been that much for him to carry someone like Sibella inside."

Jackie had still not returned by the time of the fifth class period. Shaggy had walked into his regular routine with Elsa, though, sitting in the school's gymnasium, lifting his small weights while the young monster was lifting more than a thousand pounds with one hand easily.

Elsa noticed that Shaggy was out of it, so she delicately placed her colossal dumbbell on the ground and walked over. "Say, Coach, maybe this is getting to be a little too routine, huh?"

"Huh? What?" Shaggy looked up from the floor and towards his fifth student. The question finally registering in his mind, he snapped back into consciousness. "Oh, well, like, you never really complained about it or anything."

"That's because you were really impressed with what I could lift." Elsa motioned back to the dumbbell she had set down. "But now look. I'm lifting all that in continual reps without so much as breaking a sweat in class. Sure, being strong is nice, but it feels kind of impersonal."  
"Really?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "So, like, what do you want to do?"

"Well," Elsa blushed lightly, "Winnie has been telling me that you guys play football." She tapped her forefingers together. "I kind of like football, too." Her blush deepened. "Of course, with the science nerd that I am, it must not have seemed likely."

"Of course not, Elsa. Football is, like, a great game." Shaggy placed his own weight down but stopped suddenly. "But, like, are you sure that's a good idea. You'd probably, like, break me in half. I could go, like, see what's taking Jackie so long and-"

"No!" Elsa raised her hands up quickly defensively. Noticing her instinctive reaction, she lowered her arms back down, and her face cleared up. "I promise, I can be really soft." She looked down at herself and muttered beneath her breath, "Maybe not as soft as Winnie, but still soft."

"Well, all right. If you, like, say so." Shaggy pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Let's just, like, go outside, and I'll grab the ball. A few good games should, like, help distract me from what's been on my mind, anyways."

Okay, okay. Another chapter down, and a new character is up. Jackie-in-Irons is actually a character suggested to me by smt1721. Jackie, along with several other characters, will likely be used in one of his soon-to-come stories. However, he's letting me use Jackie for now.

Aside from that, it looks like a real mystery is at hand. What could have possibly happened to Scooby, and what's happening to him now? Find out, next time on When Ghouls Grow Up!

Please, enjoy and review.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Are You Afraid of the Dark?

The next day, Shaggy stretched his arms out wide as he woke up. "Like, morning, Scoob. How ya doing?" He looked over to see that the bed on the other side of the room was empty. His heaed dropped slightly, as his face became concerned. "Like, oh yeah. He's, like, still missing." He turned in his bed, so his feet fell to the floor. He lifted himself onto his feet lazily, and he walked over to the window. "Wow. It sure, like, looks like it'll be a stormy day, today." He turned around and walked to the closet, grabbing his clothes for the day. "Like, I guess I better tell Miss G that we'll be having class inside today."

After getting dressed, Shaggy walked out of his room and down the stairs. His feet plodded heavily as he walked along, feeling a lump in his throat and like the sky outside was ready to fall on him.

"Still no hound dog making his way to the table?" Mrs. Elmroot was the first to notice Shaggy enter the dining area. "It's too bad. He really seemed to enjoy these sausages while he was around."  
"Dumb dog probably just ran off." Mr. Crossedwires puffed heavily on his cigar, a newspaper open in front of his face. "There really isn't much to dogs when it comes to brain power, you know."  
"Actually, there are quite a few dog breeds that are quite smart." Jackie smiled down at the machine. "For example, the greyhound is not only fast and precise with it's movements, but it can-"

Mr. Crossedwires pulled the giant down to eye level by his collar. "Listen here, kid. If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it!"

Jackie coughed as smoke poured out in his direction. "Y-yes, sir."  
"Now, stop that." Mrs. Elmroot pulled a large, solid steel spoon from her belt and nailed Mr. Crossedwires on the head with it. "If you're in here, you're eating. If you're not eating, then you're not in here." She kicked the bottom of the chair, forcing the robot up."  
"Cursed witch," Mr. Crossedwires swore. "You better be watching your back. I ain't gonna let you boss me around forever!"

"Shoo! Shoo! Off with you!" Mrs. Elmroot held her spoon up high. "You know I don't like arguing."

Grumbling, Mr. Crossedwires turned and slunk his way out of the dining area.

"It really kind of surprises me." Miss Grimwood placed a thoughtful finger on her cheek. "He's usually not quite so angry. In fact, he's usually not up so early, either."  
Miss Gretel nodded. She seemed to be doing some form of sign language in the headmistress's direction.

"Now, calm down, Miss Gretel. Mr. Crossedwires wasn't referring to you, when he said witch." Miss Grimwood placed a comforting hand over Miss Gretel's. "Come, Mister Rogers. I'm sorry that Mr. Doo is still missing, but there are still classes. You should start eating."

"Um, yeah." Shaggy walked over and sat between Miss Gretel and Jackie. He began putting some of the stacked omelettes on his plate. "Just so you, like, know, Miss G. I'm probably, like going to have class indoors today."

"That's absolutely fine, Mister Rogers." Miss Grimwood nodded. "It might be a nice break for the girls as well."

"I just hope that the ceiling is pretty high in the gym." Jackie placed a hand on his head. "It's not all that fun to be a giant, sometimes."

"Like, okay, Tanis." Shaggy snapped his fingers as he stood in front of the mummy. "Seeing how you, like, seem to be having trouble keeping on your feet, how about we, like, do some of those old dancing lessons?"

"Gee, Mister Rogers, that does sound like a good idea." Tanis took hold of one of her ponytails. "Do you really think it will help."

"Like, sure." Shaggy chuckled. "It's, like, a sure way to become poised and everything."

"You actually know how to dance ballet?" Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"What's there to, like, know?" Shaggy laughed harder. "You, like, just dance on your toes and go where the music goes." He stood up on his toes and began to skitter across the floor.

"Mister Rogers is right." Tanis followed the human's example, flowing quite cleanly across the floor.

"Well, if you say so." Jackie slowly rose to his toes, listening to the music playing played by the disembodied glove on the record player. He wavered on the tip of his boot, flailing his hands about. "Um, I'm really not sure if I like this dancing much." He began facing backwards, clawing at open air.

Tanis quickly grabbed one of her ponytails, whirled it into a lasso, and let it fly, catching one of the assistant teacher's hands. However, she began sliding across the floor as well.

"Tanis!" Shaggy ran over and took hold of the bandage. "Like, great thinking, Tanis." Unfortunately, he wasn't doing anything more than slowing the giant's descent.

Miss Grimwood's floating glove quickly came to the rescue, though. Flying beneath Jackie, it forced the giatn back to his feet.

"Like, nice catch." Shaggy laughed as he walked over to Jackie. "Maybe you should, like, sit this one out. We don't, like, want to put anymore holes in the floor."  
"Thank you." Jackie wiped his brow as he walked towards the nearest bench.

"Like, wow, Winnie, you're really light on your feet." Shaggy raised an eyebrow as he waltzed across the room with the werewolf in hand. "I never, like, thought you'd know this dance."

"Ah, it was for some stupid moonlight ball my dad forced me to attend." Winnie grinned as she kept her eyes away from Shaggy. "I mean, I'm only fourteen. It's not like I need to really be dating or anything."

"Probably not." Shaggy looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Actually, who would you, like, date? You do, like, go home for the summer, right?"  
"Of course." Winnie shrugged. "But there's not a lot of interesting guys there. Just your classic werewolf pack. Big clan thing, you know. Not a lot of real options." She chuckled. "I mean, you say jump, they all say 'how high'. What I'd like to do is get out in the world. Meet another kind of guy." She passed a sidelong glance at Shaggy, before quickly averting her gaze again. "You know what I mean."

"I, like, guess so." Shaggy smiled. "I've had a couple of girlfriends, and it can get, like, real interesting at times. Real interesting."  
"Really?" Winnie raised an eyebrow this time. "Do you have one right now?"

"Not really." Shaggy grimaced. "I don't know what'd it would really mean to you, but my last girlfriend, like, turned out to be an alien." He looked down at Winnie, removing his hand from hers and rubbing her curly hair. "I certainly, like, hope you have better luck than that."

"Yeah." Winnie rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Sibella walked into the school's gymnasium, smiling warmly. "I heard we were fancing in gym today, Mister Rogers, so I decided to bring the proper clothing." She swung a small pack from over her shoulder. "I'll be in the dressing room for only a moment, but it's this lovely gown that my father sent from Transylvania, and it's simply fang-tastic."  
"Like, sure thing, Sibella." Shaggy pointed towards the dressing room. "We still have a few minutes before class starts, and it's not like we'll need to start immediately."

"Speaking of which," Phanty passed through the doors and flew up to Shaggy, "I'm going to need to see ya'll for a moment."

"Okay." Shaggy's eyes were wide as the ghost invaded his personal space. "But, like, you still need to get to class."  
"I know, but this is important, Sugar." Phanty pointed towards the door. "We're going to have to take it out into the hall, even."

"Well, alright." Shaggy turned to the seated giant. "Say, Jackie, you mind, like, taking over class for a bit? I shouldn't, like, be too long."

"Me? Take over Sibella's class?" Jackie blushed. "I don't know, Mister Rogers. That might not be the best idea."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll, like, be fine." Shaggy chuckled. "You don't have to, like, dance ballet, after all."

"But you don't understand, Mister Rogers." Jackie stood up and reached out a bit. He watched as Sibella walked over to dressing room, his eyes grew wide. "You see, yesterday, she bi-"

"Oh, just calm down, Sugar." Phanty whirled behind Shaggy and pushed him towards the hall. "Ya'll can just have yuar fun while Shaggy's out and about. Shouldn't be too big a problem." She continued until she and the teacher were out in the hall.

"Like, woah, hold on, Phanty." Shaggy stepped away from the ghost and turned to face her. "I, like, realize you're in a hurry, but that doesn't, like, mean you need to just push me around."  
"Sorry, Sugar." Phanty tittered as she floated in front of the human. "But this might just be the most important thing ya'll need to be doing right now."  
"Really?" Shaggy placed the back of his hands on his hips. "Well, like, what do you need to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't need to talk to ya'll about anything, Sugar." Phanty winked at the teacher. "I only said I needed to see ya'll. Someone else needs to talk to ya'll."

"Like, what's that supposed to mean?" Shaggy raised both eyebrows. "Really, Sibella, who needs to, like, talk to me?"

"Hand."

"Huh?" Shaggy didn't notice the serpentine hand that crawled slowly across the floor until the fingers wrapped themselves around him. With a powerful yank, he was flying backwards, screaming his lungs out as he watched the receding frame of the waving phantom.

The ghostly hand carried Shaggy over the floor, without touching him to any walls. He flew over the stairs up a floor and began speeding even faster down the hall. Shaggy was only able to turn his head to see an open door that the hand was disappearing into.

Blackness!

Shaggy looked around the darkness, panicking. He tried to choke out a cry for help, but he could only scramble backwards on the floor. _Well, at least I'm not bound any longer._ His eyes began shifting around hurriedly.

A spotlight illuminated the middle of the room. At least, Shaggy figured it was the middle of the room, as their weren't any apparent edges to the darkness. In the light, though, a young woman stood in a maid's outfit, a small table beside her. "Would you like any tea, sir?"

Swallowing, Shaggy looked at the young woman. Her mechanical bow and stuff smile betrayed that she wasn't very human. In fact, the hinges connecting her elbows and jaw made it quite apparent that she was a puppet of some sort.  
"Would you like some tea, sir?" the puppet asked again, gesturing to the tea set on the table. "It's still hot."  
"Enough, Elizabeth." A dark-skinned man stepped into the light as well, bearing one extended crow wing and one of a bat. "He obviously doesn't want any tea." He snapped his fingers, and the female puppet disappeared into shreds of darkness. He held a hand out to Shaggy. "Come here. I'm sure you'll be able to see a lot better, once you're in the light."

Shaggy swallowed as he looked the young man up and down. Every shred of clothing was blacker than pitch, and his skin was a darker than dark violet color. His gleaming teeth and fiery, white eyes were the only parts of his body that weren't extremely dark. In fact, the fanged mouth's glare was almost blinding. He covered his eyes with his hand.

"Oh, come now." With the sound of snapping fingers, Shaggy could feel himself being dragged by his legs as if they were entwined by some form heavy cords. "Would you please quit acting so helpless? I'm not even trying to scare you."

Shaggy soon uncovered his eyes to look up and see the tall figure of the young man staring down at him, mouth closed in a sort of smirk. "A-A-A-A-A-Alister!"

"Oh, look. He knows how to talk." Alister leaned down and poked Shaggy on the nose. "And here I was, thinking that all humans could do was scream." He waited a moment before cracking open his fanged smile. "That was a joke, kid."

"B-b-b-but..." Shaggy looked around the room quickly.

"No point in trying to escape. Once you've entered my door, you're in my world. Anything I want to do, I can do." Alister snapped his fingers, and the table and tea set evaporated into dark smoke. The smoke quickly reformed into a mahogany desk with several files on it and a large kettle with a couple of mugs. "Now, you strike me more as a hot cocoa person than a tea person. I can't blame you. That caffeine keeps me up all night." He walked over to the kettle and looked at Shaggy expectantly. "Get it? Boogeyman? Up all night? Huh? Huh?"

As no response came, Alister sighed and poured a couple of mugs of hot cocoa. With one powerful swoop of his arm, he grabbed hold of a mug and swung it towards Shaggy's face, forcing the head to lean back and the contents of the mug to fall straight down.

After hacking his way through the steam, Shaggy took hold of his throat. "What, like, was that for?"

"Good. Seems that courage boost does work." Alister walked around the desk, a massive plush chair appearing behind it, and he sat down elegantly. He pointed towards Shaggy, and a similar chair shot out of the darkness, forcing the man to sit. "Now, you're probably wondering why I've called you here."

"Called? I was, like, dragged here?" Shaggy pointed accusingly at the dark man. "What do you, like, want with me?"

"Oh chosen one of the Goblin King, one of the ten members of the Immortal Council," Alister picked up the folders on his desk and straightened them. "The time has come that your assistance will be needed."

"Huh?" Shaggy stared at Alister for a moment. He held his hands up and shook them as if to block his own view. "Like, hold on a minute! The Goblin King? How did, like, you know about-"

"He's on the same council as my father." Alister smiled. "It's not often that any human meets the Goblin King and gets to live. However, those who do are quite well blessed amongst those of us in the monster world." He clapped a hand against the folders loudly. "However, what I need is your help."

"My help?" Shaggy lowered his hands and swallowed. "Like, no way man. What sort of help could I, like, give you?"

"Plenty." Alister grinned broadly. He picked up his mug and sipped the contents through his teeth. As he placed the mug down, a low hiss escaped him. "As you think you know, I am the scare tactics teacher for this school, assigned to help 'scare up' the girls." He chuckled warmly. "This is not true, though." He leaned over his desk, resting on his elbow. "This is not true, though. I have actually been assigned here because there has great cause for belief that there will soon be a coup here."

"A coup?" Shaggy scratched his chin. "Like, what's that?"

"Someone is planning to pull a powerplay. Planning to overthrow Miss Grimwood, likely kill her, so they may take control of the school." Alister's eyes glinted. "The problem is, we don't know who, and there are too many suspects." He flipped the first folder open and turned it to face Shaggy.

Shaggy pointed at the picture of a blond woman with a bright smile. "Why, that's Miss Gretel."

"Wrong." Alister snapped the folder shut and pulled it away, fast as lightning. "That is the name she goes by now, yes, but that is not who she is. She is the infamous Dimitrika Yaga, grandniece of the great Baba Yaga and younger sister to the even more infamous Rasputanya Yaha."  
"Infamous? What did she, like, do?"

"She accidentally killed the first two rows of the audience and half the cast in a Russian ballet just by talking to her sister throughout the performance to make commentary." Alister raised an eyebrow. "You have heard her speak, correct? She could easily kill most people with only three sentences."

"So she's, like a murderer?" Shaggy swallowed hard.

"No, not quite." Alister laid the file down. "It was by accident, so it was manslaughter. However, and not to say human life is worthless, but the real charge against her is the worst kind in the monster world. Unexplainable paranormal activity. Fortunately, hers are only by accident, even though that's half the problem." He palmed his face and sighed. "Throughout her five hundred years of life, Rasputanya has actually died more than three thousand time, only to show back up in town the next day. And it's not like she could just be an escape artist. No! That'd be too simple! She goes drowning herself, poisoning herself, strapping dynamite to herself, stepping in front of trains! Sure, she hasn't hurt anyone but herself, but she always makes sure she has an audience, and do you know how tiresome it gets trying to erase people's memories! She was half the burnings during the Salem Witch Trials! And that son of hers! He's still an urban legend because of how impossible it seemed to kill him."  
"Wow. That does, like, sound kind of serious."

"It's about as serious as you can get in the monster world." Alister twisted one of his fingers in his ebony locks. "We're trying to improve monster-human relations, yes, but we can't just barrel humans into the monster world. It's just not done. Dimitrika has changed her name several times, including Wilhelmina Grimm, Olga Grindelsdotter, and Sasha Korsakov."

"So, like, what makes you think she'd want to take over Grimwood's?" Shaggy shrugeed. "She hasn't, like, been acting mean to anyone."

"Just think, Shaggy." Alister tapped the side of his head. "All she'd have to do is trap every staff member, kill them with her voice, and hold the girls hostage. With as much political influence as the girls' fathers have, it'd be all too easy to get all charges on her and her sister dropped." He opened the next folder. "Mrs. Elmroot, on the other hand, at least has some noble intentions. She doesn't have a criminal history, but if she can just get Miss Grimwood kicked out of the headmistress's seat, she could take over. She could finally afford the cyborg implants that will help her husband live outside of hospital walls for the rest of his life."

"Why doesn't Miss G just, like, pay her better." Shaggy motioned with his hands. "I mean, is it, like, that hard for her to ask for a raise."

Alister shrugged. "Fortunately, she's only been trying to push a case that Miss Grimwood has been performing acts of paranormal activity, when I think she should be trying to get her locked up in a loony bin. Of course, fire trolls aren't well known for their patience." He sighed as he threw the last folder towards Shaggy. "I do believe that this man is our prime suspect."

The physical education teacher opened to folder to see a gruff, mechanical face staring up at him. "Zoinks!" He threw the folder back on the desk. "Mr. Crossedwires!"

"Yes. Charged with nearly a hundred counts of grand theft auto, twenty cases of eating parking meters, fifty-seven counts of crashing into human cars with his own on purpose, making him a murderer, and quite a bit of air pollution tickets left unpaid." Alister's brow furrowed as he glared down at the picture. "We'd like to only have his better half, but it was Oliver's body to begin with. Gearson Cogsworth was only a program installed in hopes to better his behavior." He tapped a long nail on the photo, and the whole folder went up in blue fire. "He was assigned to teach here in hopes to keep him preoccupied, but he's obviously not with it. If for no other reason, he might just kill Miss Grimwood and anyone else he feels like as retribution for his community service."

"B-b-but what do you, like, expect me to do?" Shaggy swallowed hard as he watched the smoking piece of desk. "Any of these guys could, like, kill me. How could I possibly, like, stop them?"

"That's just the problem, Shaggy." Alister's face became very sober. "The aim is not just arrest, but capital punishment. This is one of the few monster schools that any human knows about, and we can't let anyone jeopardize this school to become infested with the FBI or Area 51 agents or anything."

"C-c-capital p-punishment!" Shaggy's hair stood on end, and he held his hands up defensively. "Like, how do you plan I pull that off? I'm, like, no monster or even a bodybuilder or anything."

"Being friends with the Goblin King comes with a few diplomatic immunities and social protections." Alister smiled. "Besides, you won't need to kill anyone." He leaned back in his chair, stretching out his wings. "The problem is that I'm not allowed to leave this room except under certain circumstances, per contract. This means that I can't investigate or anything, so I need you to help me figure out who's the problem." His eyes narrowed. "Your records do show a history of both solving mysteries and protecting monsters at the same time. I'm sure you'll be very useful."  
"And then what? You, like, just come in and kill whoever it is?" Shaggy swallowed. "Doesn't that, like, seem a little harsh?"

"Rules of the boogyman. Unless it's through heart attack or a stroke caused by fear, a boogeyman can't kill anyone." Alister snapped his fingers, and a battle ax came soaring from behind his back.

Shaggy screamed as the ax came towards him. His scream increased in volume as it passed through him.

Alister laughed heinously at the screams. He wiped his eyes. "Well, as you can see, I'm pretty much harmless. However, the Halloween open house is only a week away, and I suspect that whoever is going to throw the coup will make their move soon afterwards. At least before winter vacation."  
"That soon?" Shaggy scratched the back of his head, making sure there wasn't an implanted ax.

"Yes. That soon." Alister scratched his chin. "Oh, one more thing." He snapped his ringers, and a giant, black-petaled blossom appeared. It burst to reveal Scooby standing beside the desk.

"Scoob!" Shaggy leaped over and hugged the dog. "Like, Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' pal. I was, like, so worried."

"Sorry for kidnapping him." Alister poured some more hot chocolate in his mug. "I was hoping it'd lead you to snoop around my door, seeing how I'm already under critical suspicion. Cookie for the road?" He snapped his fingers, and two massive chocolate chip cookies appeared in front of Shaggy and Scooby.

"Like, thanks, man." Shaggy took hold of his cookie as Scooby began munching on his while it floated.

"I wouldn't suggest trusting me." Alister furrowed his brow. "In fact, don't trust anyone. Not even the girls."

"What?" Shaggy's eyes grew wide. "Like, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly as it sounds." Alister took a long sip from his mug. "I'm sure you've noticed the girls have been acting a bit strange this year."

"Yeah, kinda." Shaggy rubbed the hack of his head. "I don't, like, know what that's got to do with anything."

"Oh, it doesn't involve the case." A sly smile grew across the dark man's face. "However, human genetics are quite valuable in the monster world, improving the strength of most species. Now, Phantasma, my fiancée, her flirting is just a last fling for her, like how I'm still allowed to conjure images like Elizabeth." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "However, don't mistake the other girls' actions as just love or a crush. It's lust. Sticking a human in a monster school would be like sticking a pop star in a human school. They don't care about who you are so much as what you are."

Shaggy held up his hand to interject. "But-"

"So long. You still have one more class to teach,. And remember, Elsa can snap you in half, if you make her angry at all." He snapped his fingers with an evil laugh, and Shaggy and Scooby appeared in the hall, just in front of a slamming door.

Okay, there's Alister for ya. Either you'll like him or you won't. You decide.

However, it seems that the plot is just getting thicker and thicker here. Someone may just not make it to the end.

Please, enjoy and review.


	8. Chapter 8

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 8: Parental Guidance Advised

Shaggy swallowed as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Rut's rong, Raggy (What's wrong, Shaggy)?" Scooby turned to face his pal as he was brushing his fur.

"Well, you know. It's, like, been how long since we've seen the girls' parents?" Shaggy rubbed the wrinkles out of his shirt. "What are we, like, going to do? It's, like, not as though we know how they've been."  
"Rah (Yeah)!" Scooby placed a thoughtful finger on his cheek. "Raybe re rould rave rent roliray rards (Maybe we should have sent holiday cards)?"

Shaggy chuckled. "Maybe, but I haven't, like, seen that many Halloween cards."

"Rue (True)." Scooby shrugged. "Ro rut rar ree roing roo roo (So what are we going to do)?"

"I'm not, like, sure." Shaggy took a final look at himself in the miror. "We better be, like, headed down soon, though. They won't, like, be holding the party forever."

"Rah (Yeah)." Scooby nodded smartly. "Ret's row (Let's go)." He strutted his way to the door.

"I'm coming. I'm, like, coming." Shaggy pulled himself away from the mirror and walked over to the door, following the great dane. "Let's just hope that we, like, really aren't on the menu or anything. Palmyra has been, like, getting a little, like, inventive, shall we say."

Scooby shrugged as he walked alongside the human. As they passed the clock in the hall, he tapped Shaggy on the shoulder. "Rum, Raggy. Rut rime ris rit? (Um, Shaggy. What time is it?)"

"Oh, well, that, like, an easy one, Scoob." Shaggy looked over at the clock and examined it a moment. "It's, like, only seven-fifteen." He paused a moment. "Like, seven-fifteen! Holy cow, we're late!" He turned and began running down the hall, Scooby close in tow.

As the two descended the stairs, they were surprised to find Jackie pacing a floor above what should have been the party space.

Shaggy stopped first. "Like, hey, Jackie. What are you, like, doing up here?"

"Rah! Rarty's rownrairs. (Yeah! Party's downstairs.)" Scooby pointed towards the floor. "Ret's row (Let's go)."

"Oh, but, Mister Rogers." Jackie held up a pausing finger.

"Like, we can talk later, Jackie." Shaggy grabbed hold of one of the giant's wrists while Scooby took hold of the other. "We're, like, already late as it is."

The three hurtled down the last flight of stairs and a rush through the door into a room that was set up for the parents' open house of Miss Grimwood's. Many staring eyes were aimed in their direction.

"Vell, vould you look at this?" Dracula was beside the flopped Shaggy's side in a split second, pulling the young man to his feet. "Truly, Shaggy, it was a vreal pleasure to 'ave you at the last open house. I mean, ven you vere here last, that is. Tvice, though, is highly unusual."

"Huh?" Shaggy held his head as his vision continued to spin.

Jackie swallowed lightly as he placed a hand on the senior teacher's shoulder. He lowered his voice and leaned towards his ear. "It's not exactly usual for the teachers to be here, Mister Rogers." His gaze tilted towards Dracula, and his voice became louder again. "I'm so sorry that we just barged in like this, Mister Count." He chuckled nervously.

"Not at all. Not at all." Count Dracula smiled very broadly. "It's not like this is a private party of anything." He wrapped his own arm around Shaggy's neck, pushing away the young giant's hand. "Besides, Shaggy and I have something ve need discuss, anyvays."

"As do you and I." Sibella had appeared on the other side of Jackie. "Shall we meet near the snack table?" She pointed at Scooby, who already had a plate that was piled high. "It seems that Mister Doo has already gotten a headstart."

"Yes. You kids do that." Dracula pulled a crooked grin. "Just be sure to stay vare I can see you." His eyes narrowed. "Understand?"

"Of course, daddykins." Sibella pulled Jackie along.

"What?" Jackie went wide-eyed as he was pulled along.

"I don't know, Drac." Shaggy shrugged. "I, like, mean that Jackie really doesn't seem like the sort of guy who'd really try kissing a girl or anything." He rubbed his chin. "Actually, he even, like, seems to be nervous around girls."

"He's not the vun I'm vorried." Dracula paused. "Vell, actually, he is, but not in the usual manner." He led Shaggy towards the corner. "Now, Shaggy, I vrealize that Sibella is getting to be that age. She's going through the normal vampiric puberty very smoothly. Unfortunately, this leads to a rather difficult time in each vampire's young life. At least, those who actually do through this age."

"What?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "Sibella, like, seems fine to me."

"Vell, yes and no." Dracula grimaced slightly. "Miss Grimvood should alvready know about it, but I fear that it might be best to keep an eye on young Sibella for a vile. And I mean a close eye."

"Like, what do you mean?" Shaggy chuckled nervously. "She, like, seems fine to me."

"Bloodlust." Dracula's eyebrows knitted together.

"B-b-b-b-b-bloodlust?" The hair on the back of Shaggy's neck stood on end at the word 'lust'. "L-like, wh-wh-what's that?"

"Completely normal for young vampires, I assure you." Dracula held his hands up to quiet the physical education teacher. "As you should know, ve vampires usually take little bits of blood, no vorse than a large mosquito. However, bloodlust occurs generally at the mid teens. It somewhat induces a need for more and more blood. Normally, it can be taken care of by just a few extra parcels of blood, end of story." He turned his gaze slightly and gestured towards the snack table. "Unfortunately, should the young vampiress find anyone she feels... amorous towards, she can go a little overboard."

"You, like, mean Jackie?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the giant standing at the snack table.

"He might have enough blood to spare." Dracula chuckled darkly. "I'm not making any guarantees, though."

Shaggy swallowed. "You mean..."

"As long as there's supervision, I'm sure it'll never get that far." Dracula shrugged, letting go of Shaggy and walking away. "Good luck to you, Shaggy."

With eyes wide, Shaggy began shaking as the vampire left him.

"Really knows how to give a pep talk, that one." The wolfman walked over to Shaggy. "Is it any wonder I left those dumb races of his?"

"Oh, um, yeah." Shaggy rubbed the back of his neck. "I, like, suppose."

"Still, quite a problem you have on your hands." The wolfman pulled a file out of his pocket and began filing his claws. "Don't take me as being racist, but after meeting Drac, all I expect is trouble, when I deal with vampires." He laughed. "Of course, teenagers in general are trouble. Mine isn't an exception." He wrapped his arm around Shaggy's neck. "Speaking of which, I want to show you something." He held up what looked like a small guillotine.

"L-like, wh-what's that?" Shaggy pointed at the small device, swallowing. The wildest of thoughts were going through his head. "Look, I promise nothing bad's going to, like, happen to Winnie."

"Woah, calm down." The wolfman removed his arm and held that hand up defensively. "It's only a salsa maker. Gets the most heat out of the peppers by chopping them jaggedly."

"Oh, right." Shaggy placed his hand on his head and sighed in relief. "You had me, like, real worried there, man."

"You think you're worried. What about me!" Bearing his teeth momentarily, the wolfman soon regained his composure and chuckled. "I mean, I need to be straight with you. I realize that we werewolves might come off as a bit... feral. And I admit that I like my lemonade bitter and my salsa spicy. However," he took hold of the front of Shaggy's shirt, "there's a reason I sent Winnie to a finishing school, and it wasn't to play football."

Grinning sheepishly, Shaggy pulled on his collar.

"Oh, please, forgive me." Mr. Werewolf let go of Shaggy's shirt. "I only did that to make sure I had your attention. I'm not really angry, so much as nervous." He pocketed his guillotine and shifted his weight from side to side. "You see, Winnie's mother and I have always been worried about Winnie. Nothing about health or anything. Don't get me wrong, though, there's nothing wrong with being a tomboy. It's just that I sometimes wish Winnie could be more, feminine. You know, daddy's little girl and the like."

"Oh, is that all." Shaggy chuckled. "Shouldn't she, like, be learning stuff like that from Mrs. Elmroot?"

"It's more than just cooking and cleaning. Really, when you live out in the woods, cleaning isn't worth much." Mr. Werewolf nodded firmly. "Rather, I want Winnie to grow up at least somewhat proper. Some guys like them rough 'n' tumble, but, to be honest, there's a reason why male werewolves get more notoriety amongst humans than the females. They're not exactly common, so when one is born, the guys generally expect them to be a bit more... girly."

Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "So wait, does that mean...?"

"No, we belong to a clan, so Winnie is pure werewolf." The larger wolf laid a hand on his chest, bowed his head, and sighed. "Most of the wilder loners don't tend to live very long." He raised his head again and smiled. "However, helping my little girl get in touch with her feminine side shouldn't be too much of a problem... Right!"  
"Um, yeah, sure! Like, whatever you say, sir!" Shaggy began trembling.

Smiling, the wolfman walked away.

However, Shaggy's interactions with the parents wasn't quite over yet. A ghostly figured snaked it's way through the floor and in front of the human.

Shaggy jumped as he watched Phantasma's father materialize. He palmed his face. "Oh no. Like, what now."  
"Nothing, nothing. I don't have a problem at all." The ghost cupped his hand around his mouth and smirked. "And frankly, you don't, either. Dracula and the wolfman both know they can't punish you for disobeying them, just like I do." He gave a ghastly, wheezing laugh. "You've got the goblin king watching out for you, and all of us know that if we so much as broke your wrist, he'd have the Grim Reaper standing on our doorsteps before we got home."

"Oh, well, I don't mean to, like, cause any trouble." Shaggy held his hands up defensively. "I'm just, like, a little nervous is all."

"Well then, how about I just go get the mummy, and we have a real conversation?" The specter disappeared across the room, before the teacher could even respond.

Scooby was poking his nose around the snack table. As Mrs. Elmroot had taken Halloween off, so the table was covered in things like spider-ghetti with eyeballs and bat-burgers. He touched each dish with his paw to make sure it was dead, whether it looked like it could be alive or not.

"Say, Mr. Doo." Elsa walked over to the table, carrying a sack over her shoulder. "You, um, finding anything good to eat?"

Scooby whined slightly as he looked over the table again.

"I suppose the bat-burgers are a little too well done for your taste, huh?" Elsa rubbed the back of her head. "Anyways, you know Mr. Rogers well, right?"

Raising an eyebrow, Scooby scratched his head for a minute, thinking hard. "Ruuhhhh... Rah! Rah rah rah! (Uuuhhhh... Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah!)" He nodded vigorously.

"What am I asking? Of course you do." Elsa laughed nervously. She placed her sack on the ground and opened it up. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, then?"

"Rokay." Scooby stood up on his hindpaws and humorously pulled a pair of glasses out of nowhere and perched them neatly on his nose. He began to stroke his chin sagely.

"All right." Elsa opened her sack calmly. "Now, I know this might sound like a weird question, but," she pulled out two pieces of fruit from her bag, "would you say Shaggy preferred the apple body-type or the pear body-type?"

"Rapple? Rare? (Apple? Pear?)" Seeing the normal fruit in Elsa's hands, the dog snatched both, threw them in his mouth, and swallowed. He let out a relieved sigh of satisfaction.

"Interesting. So he likes both?" Elsa scratched the side of her head for a moment. "Or maybe he likes the hourglass figure?" Elsa pulled the indicated item out of her sack.

"Rourass (Hourglass)?" Scooby tilted his head to one side.

"Hmm. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea." Elsa tossed the hourglass to the side. "Look at me, I'm asking a dog for love advice."

"Rog? Rare? (Dog? Where?)" Scooby looked from side to side.

"Oh, forget it." Elsa palmed her face slowly. Blindly, she picked up a caterpillar cookie and bit into it. She froze and turned her gaze to the confection. "Then again, forget these cookies. I think Mrs. Elmroot has a point." She threw the cookie back onto the tray, causing a heavy dent in the platter and the table.

"Elsa, I would very much prefer that you don't go destroying things." Miss Grimwood placed her hands on her hips. "Not only is furniture rather experience, especially the antiques. It's extremely rude."

"Sorry, Miss Grimwood." Elsa stood up, her knees bent in together. "I just wish mom was here. Dad's nice and all, but I don't really think he can help with my problem right now."

"And what problem is that?" Elsa's father stepped up behind Elsa. "I must say, I'm proud that your efforts have made you stronger than me, but there's still a few things I can do."

"Oh, um, dad." Elsa flushed. "Well, it's just..."

"Let me take care of this." Mr. Cogsworth strode up and clapped his hands together. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this."

"About what?" Mr. Frankenteen's eyebrow rose.

"Oh, it's just this little experiment that Elsa wants to try in class." Mr. Cogsworth turned around. "Walk with me, will you?"

As the two large men walked off, Miss Grimwood turned to Elsa. "Well, that certainly was a surprise. Another teacher attending the open house? Who's next? Mr. Squirm?"

"Gee, I don't know." Elsa blushed heavily and sighed.

Scooby, who had been munching on the various fruits in Elsa's sack, pulled his head out, but it was stuck inside of a watermelon. Howling, he wobbled onto his hind paws, whilst dancing around, he wandered into Jackie and ended up shoving him backwards, away from Elsa.

"Well, Mr. Rogers, I will remember to send some scarab clips to help cinch up Tanis's bandages." The mummy smiled. "It's good to see that there is someone I can trust with my daughter."

"True. Very true." Phantasma's father grinned as well. "With you and Alister here together, there's no way anything could happen to my precious Phanty."

"Well, gee, guys, that, like, means a lo-woah!" Shaggy raised his arms to protect himself from the oncoming Scooby and Jackie. On collision, they all staggered back and out of the room.

With a haunting smile plastered on his face, the Phantom of the Opera leaned over to the mummy and whispered, "You are sure we can trust them, right?"

"Of course." The mummy turned around and began to stumble off. "However, for now, I want to spend time with my daughter, before I need to go."

Back in the hall, Shaggy shook his head and stood up. "Well, I guess that's, like, the end of the party for us, huh?" He chuckled nervously.

"Yeah. Sure." Jackie brushed himself off and plucked the watermelon off of Scooby. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow or something." He ran off towards the stairs.

"Looks like at least one other person than me is worried about all of this." Shaggy choked halfway through his chuckle. He stretched his hands over his head and yawned. "What say you and I, like, hit the hay, Scoob, ol' pal."

"Rokay." Scooby Doo followed Shaggy up the stairs.

As they passed through the hallways, though, Alister's door began to shake. Instead of opening, the doorknob turned into Alister's head. "Hey there, Shaggy."

"Alister!" Shaggy jumped back.

"Just checking on the investigation." The doorknob did what seemed to be an attempt at a shrug. "Anything seem interesting about the parents?"

"Well," Shaggy rubbed the back of his neck, "it's not like I was, like, looking or anything, but some of the dads do seem to be acting weird."

"Word must be getting out." Alister smiled. "Just remember, Shaggy, I'm counting on you, and time... is... running... out!" He laughed menacingly as he disappeared from the doorknob.

"Like, oh my gosh." Looking both ways before doing anything, Shaggy grabbed hold of Scooby's paw and rushed them both up the stairs and into their room. Panting heavily, he let go of Scooby and slammed the door behind them. "Holy Cow, Scoob. I don't know, like, how long I can do this." He wiped his brow.

"Rut's rong, Raggy (What's wrong, Shaggy)?" Scooby stared at the man curiously.

"What's wrong? What's WRONG?" Shaggy threw his hands in the air. "Gee, I don't know, Scoob. Like, I have to put up with teaching a class of monsters, dealing with Sibella's bloodlust, Winnie's upbringing, whatever else the fathers want me to do, not to mention that I have to figure out this mystery of Alister's, even though he might be the one planning to tear my throat out anyways." He grabbed the sides of his head. "Why... why... I don't know. This is getting to be too much. I'm, like, freaking out, Scoob. I might... I might..."

Shaggy hiccuped.

Okay, anyone who knows their Scooby movies should have a fair guess as to what's going to happen next. And yes, hiccups can be a result of stress just as easily as eating too fast.

Anyways, I don't know how much longer that I'll have internet for a while. I'm moving, so don't worry, if I don't update for a while. I'll be back soon enough.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 9: Let the Night Fall

Shaggy had his hands over his eyes. "Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' pal. Please, like, tell me what I think just happened didn't, like, happen." He swallowed heavily.

Scooby could only blubber out a incoherent whine as a response. He scrambled behind his bed and peeked over the side. "R-r-rarerolf! (W-w-werewolf!)"

"Not so loud!" Scooby turned around and clenched his fists, his eyes still closed. "And please tell me you're just joking. Or did Winnie just burst in on us or what?" He hiccuped again out of nervousness.

"Raggy?" Scooby stepped from behind the bed cautiously. He traipsed up to the man with a nervous grin. "Raggy, rar roo rokay? (Shaggy, are you okay?)"

Shaggy opened his eyes slowly. When he saw his hands were normal, he began laughing nervously. "Oh, thank heavens."He turned to the mirror on the dresser and felt his face. His eyes were still full of anxiety, but he looked completely normal. "I, like, though we had a problem there for a moment, Scoob." He gave a long nervous laugh, which resulted in another hiccup.

"Yeeeeeeeeee-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

Staring back at Shaggy was a wolf man, but not the form he initially remembered. With an extended snout brimming with fangs, clawed hands that actually looked menacing, and a long, bushy tail waving behind him, there was little else than horror in the room.

Shaggy and Scooby both began screaming. They began crashing into stuff as they ran around the room, both trying to get away from Shaggy's new image. Beds, chairs, and even rugs were flying as they continued making the ruckus.

Soon, a knock came at the door. "Mr. Rogers, are you all right in there," Miss Grimwood's voice could be heard calling. "It sounds like you're having quite a scare of a time, and some of the parents are concerned in case you might actually have drinks on school property."

Shaggy crashed into Scooby, and they both tumbled across the floor. The werewolf quickly sat up. "Oh, um, nothing, Miss Grimwood. Everything's, like, fine." Shaggy swallowed. "You don't need to worry about a thing."

"Are you sure, Mister Rogers. Your voice sounds different. Are you coming down with a could?"

"Uh, NO! Shaggy covered his mouth with one hand. "I mean, yes. It is, like, that time of the year and all."

"I suppose it is getting to be a bit nippy. Do you want me to fetch you a lozenge and some tea?"

"Okay, let's, like, try not to panic, Scoob," Shaggy told his canine companion. "All I have to do is, like, hiccup, and everything will be solved." He sucked in a large breath and tried to force it out as a hiccup. He froze as his breath got caught. "Oh no, Scoob. I must have, like, scared the hiccups right out of me."  
"Roh No!" Scooby placed his paws on his cheeks as his eyes grew wide. "Rut roo re roo, Raggy (What do we do, Shaggy)?"

"Mister Rogers, I'll be taking your silence as a yes." Miss Grimwood's heels clacked on the hallway floor as she walked away from the room.

"Oh, this is not good, Scoob. Like, not good!" Shaggy grabbed the great dane with his clawed hands and swallowed heavily. "I can't, like, be a werewolf. I'm a normal guy! Not to mention with what the girls' fathers are, like, expecting now, what can I do?"

"Run?" Scooby shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, you've got that right, Scoob." Shaggy pulled his hands away from the dog and moaned into them. "As soon as Drac and Frankenstein and, like, the others find out, we're done for. Completely done for."

"Ro. Run! (No. Run!)" Scooby pointed towards the window. "Rindow! Rump! Run! (Window! Jump! Run!)"

"Run away?" Shaggy looked at the window. "I don't know. But, like, what about you?" He turned back to face his friend. "You mean to stay here? Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Rah! (Yeah!)"Scooby nodded. "Rell, raybe. (Well, maybe.)"

Shaggy began biting on his nails. "Well, it shouldn't, like, be that big of a deal." He began listing things out on his fingers and pacing. "Just make sure that you, like, keep Sibella away from Jackie, keep Winnie away from football, and whatever other combination of two things you think could cause trouble, keep them away from each other." He swallowed. "Oh, this is just, like, not good, Scoob. Not good at all."

The knocking returned to the door. "Mr. Rogers, I have your tea ready."

"Zoinks!" Shaggy jumped nearly into the ceiling. "Um, bye, Scoob." He turned tail and ran out the window.

"Mr. Rogers," Miss Grimwood forced the door open, "I realize that lozenges tend to smell funny, but you honestly need to quick blubbering and take your-" She looked around. "Why, Mister Doo, whatever has become of Mister Rogers?"

"Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuum." Scooby tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Running?"

"Running? As in outside?" Miss Grimwood walked over to the window. "I admit that a good run might help him get over his cold, but outside at night?" She scoffed. "He best be careful, or he'll catch his death of pneumonia. Awful way to die." She turned to Scooby. "If anything, I'd prefer going by means of a poisoned cup of tea. Simple, clean, and almost no suffering."

Scooby swallowed heavily as his eyes ventured to the teapot that Miss Grimwood held.

Shaggy panted as he reached the borderline of the forest. He held his chest as he took a deep breath. "That was, like, too close." He turned back to look at the school.

"Oh, um, Mr. Werewolf! It's still a bit early, for you to be leaving the party, isn't it?"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy turned on his heel and scanned the nighttime for his accoster.

"Pardon me." Mr. Squirm wriggled across the ground. "I didn't mean to startle you. I thought werewolves had a spot-on sense of hearing, though."

"Like, Mr. Squirm?" As his eyes adjusted, he could see that massive worm was getting quite close.

"Strange, your voice sounds different." Mr. Squirm adjusted his glasses. "Almost as if you were someone else, entirely, like-" He paused. "Mister Rogers?"

"Um, like, hey." Shaggy rubbed the back of his wolfish head, as his gaze shifted towards the forest. "I wasn't expecting to meet you here."

"Nor I you, Mister Rogers." Mr. Squirm's glasses widened. "However, I was under the impression that you were human, not a werewolf. I suppose this changes things."

"Oh no, man. You've, like, got it all wrong." Shaggy pointed to his chest. "I am human. Well, like, usually." He grimaced.

"Oh, I see. Some form of spell has you." Mr. Squirm nodded seriously. "Tell me, was it by chance Miss Gretel? Or maybe even Miss Grimwood? Our headmistress certainly is a pain, isn't she."

"Like, no, it wasn't either of them." Shaggy forced a grin in the darkness, unsure whether the worm could actually see him or not. "I've sort of, like, had this curse for a while."

"Quite." Mr. Squirm was staring off into space behind Shaggy. "Still, if you are seriously considering running off into the woods, I would have to tell you that is ill-advised. You never know what's out there in the swamp, especially considering that dreadful dragon is still out there... somewhere."

"R-r-r-really?" Shaggy's fangs began to clatter. He did his best to keep his smile. "Still, if I stay here..."  
"Yes, I suppose changing species in the night could be detrimental to your career." Mr. Squirm did a shoulderless shrug. "Very well, I'm spectacular at keeping secrets. You couldn't possibly imagine how much I keep to myself."  
"Um... like, sure." Shaggy waved cautiously. "I better, like, be going, now." He turned and ran into the dark forest.

Making sure that he could no longer see even the rooftop of the school, Shaggy soon sat down, panting. Of course, with the dark of the swampy forest combined with the mist and the nighttime black, he might not have even been that far from the school.

"Oh man." Shaggy sighed, taking hold of his knees. "This is, like, not my day."

"I wouldn't say it was quite your night, either." Two branches swung down, grabbed Shaggy, and dragged him into the air.

Screaming, Shaggy flailed against his wooden attacker, but more branches simply came to their aid, ensnaring the wolfman almost completely in wood, leaving not much more than his face uncovered.

"Oh, don't struggle so much. That'll only get you scratched up, and I'm afraid I don't have any antibacterial lotion to prevent infection, either." The bark in the tree assimilated itself to look like the face of Alister. "Oh my, you certainly do look to be having a bad hair day."

"Alister?" Shaggy stared at the bark. "What are you, like, doing out here, man?"

"Well, I'm not really 'here', per se. I can simply create a few avatars at night." Alister smirked. "Honestly, it's wonderful what all can be found under children's beds and inside closets, or else a bogeyman could never make his scream quota."

"Yeah, great." Shaggy flexed against the branches. "But do you honestly, like, have to keep me like this?"

"Do you honestly have to run away from the school?"

"What kind of question is that?" Shaggy tried biting at the tree limbs, but they simply dodged out of the way. "Like, just look at me?"

"True, I suppose that this would be a little distracting. It doesn't help matters that one of your students is also a werewolf." Alister laughed. He quickly furrowed his brow and glared at Shaggy, though. "But in all honesty, I do still have a job for you, and it doesn't look like you're quite doing it."

"Like, man, could you chill out." Shaggy swallowed heavily. "You might not, like, be allowed to kill me, but I have, like, five monster dads back at the school, who will kill me, if I don't raise their daughters right."

"Hmm, true. That is a lot of stress." Alister nodded, which looked quite odd on a tree. "I suppose a physical education teacher does deserve a vacation, and let's not forget that you have two disciples who could cover you for the time being." He rolled his eyes. "All right. I suppose I could give you a few weeks off. But I want you back before the first of December. I have the feeling that the coup will take place on the day of the first snowfall."

Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "Like, what makes you think that?"

"Why isn't it obvious?" Alister's upper torso extended from the tree and twisted around, holding his hands quite dramatically as his eyes closed. "The day of the first snowfall. Such crisp innocence, such delicate beauty, such an air of renewed hope and joy." He opened the eye nearest Shaggy by a slit. "Would it not be perfect poetic irony to ruin the Christmas dreams of the attending students at such a time?"

"Uh... sure." Shaggy sighed. "Anyways, could you, like, let me down? These branches are, like, really starting to hurt."

"Why of course." All of the branches immediately let do of the furry man. "I'll be sure to send Elizabeth with meals, seeing how I doubt you're much of a swamp gourmet."

Shaggy flapped his arms wildly. "Like, hold on a minute, I meant on the ground. On the ground!"

"Didn't I tell you not to trust me?" With a faint laugh, Alister's figure on the tree disappeared.

Screaming, Shaggy landed on the forest floor, headfirst, emitting a raucous howl."

Back at the school, Winnie and her father had just stepped out of the door, when they heard a howl.

"Well, that sounds like my pickup calling." Mr. Werewolf chuckled.

"Strange, I thought Uncle Quincy was picking you up." Winnine placed a thoughtful finger on her cheek. "That sounds like Cousin Lester."

Finally! I got another chapter done.

Anyways, though it won't affect the story much, I remember someone asking me about the members of the council of ten. They are: The Goblin King, The Fairy Princess, The Grim Reaper, The Stork, The Bogeyman, Cupid, Mother Nature, Father Time, Santa Claus, and The Easter Bunny. I did think that Sandman might have been a better member, but Santa Claus and Easter Bunny are both representatives of Christian holidays, making them better counterparts. And the Tooth Fairy just didn't fit in.

Hope you guys are still liking the story.


	10. Chapter 10

Okay, dead computers don't do a Fanfiction account any good, but I'm back! I'm sure people were probably anticipating me to write a chapter about the school while Shaggy was gone, but Shaggy is our star, so we're going to keep focused on him. 'Kay?

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 10: Alister's Slayer

Shaggy whimpered in his sleep as he kicked his leg in the air. He had found this running away business harder than he anticipated. It didn't help that the ground was cold and the tree limbs were too thin for him not to fall out of whilst he was sleeping that high.

As the crisp, nippy morning breeze caught the nose of the current wolfman, he flopped up into a sitting position and yawned, stretching his furry arms in the early morning light. "Man, would I, like, give anything for a good night's sleep."

"Then why not go back to school?"

Shaggy's head whipped around. "Say what?"

"You heard me. Go. Back. To. School."

Shaggy's lupine ears swiveled atop his head as he looked around. The swamp was murky and coated in weeds and mud, but there was a surprising lack of life in it. Shaggy hadn't so much as seen Matches for the longest time, let alone anyone he could talk to. Only Elisabeth, Alister's shadow puppet, had met with him regularly, and she was too much of an automaton to be considered socializing.

"L-l-like, wh-who said that?" Shaggy turned around, pointing accusingly among the trees.

"Oh, calm down. It was only me."

Shaggy turned to see a giant pillar of mud standing before him. Its hulking arms dripped casually as the hollow eyes and mouth smiled at the reluctant werewolf.

The mud creature poked Shaggy in the chest. "Honestly, look at you. Torn clothing, covered in dirt, a complete mess. And you're still thin as a rail, despite all that food."

Shaggy screamed. "Like, yeah. D-d-d-don't eat me, M-mister Monster. I'm, l-like just skin and bones. I wouldn't make a very good meal." Shaggy was slowly backing away from the mud creature.

"Oh, would you stop that blubbering." The mud creature frowned. "It's me, Alister." He poked himself in the muddy chest. "The sun's coming up, so my avatar this time is a little bit crude."

"Alister?" Shaggy wiped his brow. "You've really gotta, like, stop doing that, man."

"And you've got to stop running away." Alister crossed his arms. "It's been nearly a month, now. I'm sure that none of the girls' fathers will see you like this, now."

Shaggy brushed himself off as he stood up. "Like, it's not the fathers I'm worried about."

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Alister glowered. "Do you honestly think you're going to scare the girls like that?" He gestured towards Shaggy. "Besides, it's not the fathers I'm worried about either. It's the mole."

Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Ugh! The coup! Remember?"

"Oh! Right! Like, that." Shaggy nodded quickly. He paused. "But wouldn't it look weird for me to return to school like this?"

"We'll discuss that after you return." Alister nodded sharply. "I'm afraid my avatar can't continue much longer, but I have sent someone out to get you." The mud creature covered its head. "Trust me. There's not much time left. December is much closer at hand than you think. We must pre… pare." The mud began to ooze into a mess at Shaggy's feet.

Shaggy laughed nervously. "Oh, well, okay. I guess I'll just, like, wait here, then." He wrung one of his wrists nervously.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping echoed through the forest. It was incredibly loud, even for that early in the morning.

"Oh no." Shaggy's knees knocked together as his teeth clattered. "Like, please tell me Alister didn't send Matches."

"Matches?" A bat flew over Shaggy's head and landed in a nearby tree. It flipped itself over into a sitting position and quickly shaped itself into a shapely young woman. "Being out here in the swamp hasn't done you much good, has it, Mister Rogers?" She laughed. "A little paranoid, are we?"

"Sibella?" Shaggy placed a hand to his chest and sighed in relief. He paused and pointed at the young vampire. "Wait a second. How did you, like-"

"Know it was you?" Sibella laughed as she slid out of the tree. "Was it not my own father who placed that curse on you?"

Shaggy rubbed the back of his neck. "Right. I, like, probably should have figured that one out."

"Anyways, we need to get going." Sibella walked past Shaggy, swaying her hips with each step. "I don't know what's going on. But I trust it must be important."

"Like, why?" Shaggy followed Sibella, smiling nervously. "I have, like, no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play stupid with me, Mister Rogers." Sibella smirked. She reached into her dress's pocket and pulled out a necklace with a black stone with a strange emblem on it. "It isn't everyday someone become a Night Slayer." She threw the pendant back.

"N-n-n-night Slayer!" Shaggy fumbled as he caught the pendant. "What's that!"

"Well, you know how Bogeymen can't kill, right?" Sibella's eye glinted as she looked back at Shaggy. "It's not often, but the Bogeyman is sort of a guard between the magical world and the human world. The Bogeyman makes sure humans are too scared to venture into magic, but he also needs to make sure that magical creatures don't try to take over the human world. Unfortunately, there is only one Bogeyman, so he needs agents of sorts. A Night Slayer is an agent of the Bogeyman to destroy any upstart monsters."

"Destroy monsters?" Shaggy swallowed hard. "How on Earth am I supposed to destroy a monster? I'm just me."

"Alister said you like to play coy." Sibella giggled. "Elsa has been able to keep tabs on you after you left. We know what you and Mister Doo have doing this whole time, and it's nothing less than fang-tastic!" She waved her hands in the air. "Meeting the Goblin King and the Fairy Princess, let alone saving them both, is quite a feat. Let's not forget receiving samurai training from a legendary Japanese Green Dragon in order to defeat an ancient evil, eliminating Southern Louisiana of a horrid batch of soul-sucking cat creatures, banishing the ghost of a wretched, evil witch. Need I go on?"

"Well, Scoob and I did have help from the gang." Shaggy laughed nervously. "I mean, Scoob and I just get lucky. It's not a whole lot of skill."

"So you say." Sibella shrugged and shook her head. Her eyes suddenly flittered open. "Oh, I almost forgot." A white gumball appeared in her hand, and she flipped it back to Shaggy. "Our scare tactics teacher says that this should clear up that curse of yours. Just chew it up, blow a bubble, and let it pop."

"What?" Shaggy blinked a few times at the small gumball. "Can this thing, like, really do that?"

"That's what I was told." Sibella placed a thoughtful finger on her cheek. "Either that, or turn you into a completely different monster."

Having already started chewing, Shaggy stopped. "What!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll be human in no time."

Shaggy sighed. "Don't like, scare me like that, Sibella." Fur was already beginning to disappear from Shaggy's skin.

"Oh, don't worry." Sibella covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. "However, you might be scared, once we arrive back at school. Winnie's been a bit of a nervous wreck, and Elsa… Well, let's just say that she has a few 'science experiments' to show you."

Finally, another chapter done. Sorry for taking so long, but I was so unsure whether I could upload anything on the dinosaur I'm working from or not.

Hope I can get this all sorted out and finished soon. The climax is about to happen.

Enjoy.


	11. Chapter 11

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 11: The Greatest Show Unearthed

Shaggy and Sibella walked out of the forest and into the late morning light.

"My, my, Mister Rogers, don't you just love the crisp air this time of year?" Sibella did a quick twirl as she took a deep inhale. Her eyes snapped open wildly. "It's simply fang-tastic!"

"It certainly is, like, nice weather, Sibella." Shaggy, now completely human, stretched his arms wide. "Say, like, what day is it, anyways? I didn't miss Thanksgiving, did I?"

"I do believe it's the last day of November, Mister Rogers." Sibella nodded to herself. "So I suppose you did miss the official day of Thanksgiving." She paused, one of her ears twitching slightly. "However, not all of the traditional festivities seem to be over." She pointed out into the field.

Shaggy followed the pointing finger and went white as a sheet. On the school grounds, Scooby and Jackie were playing football against Elsa and Winnie. Despite the sheer size of Jackie, it was obvious that the two teachers had been worked over painfully, covered in bruises and comical bandages.

"If you'll excuse me…" Sibella curtsied deftly before running over in the direction of the chain-clad giant.

Shaggy actually outpaced the young vampires, but his target was completely different. He tackled Scooby off of the playing field and held the dog's fur like a shirt. "Like, Scoob, ol' buddy, what do you think you're doing?" He chuckled nervously. "Don't you remember that Winnie's Dad will probably kill us?"

"Ree rouldn't rance (She wouldn't dance)." Scooby grimaced. "Rerides, rit's a Raturay (Besides, it's a Saturday)."

"Hm. I suppose that is, like, a good point." Shaggy paused in thought. "And I suppose it is the last day of the month, so it's not like we're going to be out-"

Later than would have been anticipated, Shaggy found himself flat on his back, having been tackled by an all too familiar face. "Heya, Coach!" Winnie's tail swung back and forth with quick, joyful flicks. "We were starting to wonder what happened to you. I mean, I knew you were alright, but you were still gone for quite a while."

"Oh, just get off of him Winnie." Elsa stood over the two, her arms folded.

"Ah, you're just jealous, Stitches." Winnie laughed as she stood up.

"Upset that you took my serum? Yes." Elsa furrowed her brow. "Jealous?"

"Totally!" Winnie smirked, her eyes glinting up at the much taller student.

"What are you guys, like, talking about?" Shaggy brushed himself as he stood up. "What happened with what?"

"You can't tell, Coach?" Winnie raised an eyebrow as she thrust her chest out.

After a moment, Elsa rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't catch on, even if he wanted to, Winnie?" She took a step toward Shaggy and placed a hand on the human's head. With a lone finger, she pushed his head down forty-five degrees and used another finger to target his face.

After a few seconds, Shaggy pointed Elsa. "Say, is this a new shirt? I thought I saw your parents bring you gifts as well at the open house."

Flabbergasted, Winnie marched over to Shaggy, her hands outstretched, but she was stopped by a single one of Elsa's fingers. The taller student nodded slowly. "Give it a minute more." After Shaggy stared blindly at both of them for a few more minutes, Elsa sighed. "Notice anything… bigger?"

"Say, like, speaking about big." Shaggy turned around. "Jackie and Sibella aren't alo-"

"Blast it, Coach!" Winnie ran up and embraced Shaggy from behind. "Look at me! I've hit a G-cup!"

"What?" Shaggy's face turned slightly red as he turned to face the werewolf.

"It was because she stole my serum and drank almost the entirety of the vial." Elsa tapped her massive foot on the ground.

"Well, excuuuuuse me." Winnie turned to Elsa and placed a hand on her ample chest. "But I wouldn't have had to have taken it, if someone hadn't tried one-upmanship, Miss Double Ds."

Elsa blushed. "I swear, it was for scientific purposes! The serum was still experimental! For all I knew, it could have changed my skin green and my hair into feathers, without the desired effect, even."

"But it didn't, now, did it?" Winnie nodded smartly. "Besides, you were the one who left it out in the open. I had to grab it, before Miss Drinks-a-lot found it and downed it."

Elsa refrained from her next argument for a moment and placed a thoughtful thumb on her chin. "Okay. I admit that you have a very good point there." She pointed at Winnie. "But did you have to drink the whole thing? It was tough making that first batch, and it's difficult to recreate without a compound to compare to. That could have made me rich."

"Say, like, pardon me for interrupting, but I need to, like, check up on Sibella and Jackie." Shaggy looked around. "You two don't, like, know where they went, do you?"

Scooby came running up at this time. "Raggy! Raggy! Rit's Rackie! (Shaggy! Shaggy! It's Jackie!)" He jabbed his finger towards the corner of the school, which was followed by a powerful shout.

"Oh, good grief." As Shaggy ran, he looked at Shaggy. "Does this happen often?"

"Ro." Scooby smiled sheepishly.

The human didn't take notice as he continued around the corner. What he found there shocked him greatly.

"No, Sibella, seriously." Jackie laughed loudly as he tried to pull his arm away from the student. "I think the wound needs to be washed, not licked clean."

"Oh, sit still, you big baby." Sibella giggled before licking a cut on Jackie's arm. "It's all the same, in the end. It's better than me tackling you and biting your ear, right?"

"I'm starting to wonder." Jackie shouted again. "What the heck! Do vampires have hydrogen peroxide for saliva, or what?"

"No." Sibella smiled impishly. "Like I said, you're a big baby."

"I am not." Jackie tried pulling his arm away again, when he noticed Shaggy and Scooby. "Oh, well, this is embarrassing."

"At least she's not, like, attacking you." Shaggy released a soft laugh, followed by a sigh. "Yeah things seem just about right." He stared up at the thin layer of cloud cover. "Oh, hey, like, look." He pointed at something falling out of the sky. "It's, like, the first snowflake of the year."

"Rah! Rowrake! (Yeah! Snowflake!)" Scooby stuck his tongue out to catch the beautiful ice crystal.

"Seems like everything's just about per-" Shaggy's eyes shot open. "Wait… first… snowflake?" He swallowed heavily. "Oh no."

Also as soon as Shaggy had uttered those words, the ground began to tremble.

"Woah! What's going on?" Jackie looked around quickly. "I don't remembering my dad planning a visit or anything."

Small fissures began to erupt from all sides of the school as the trembling became worse. Those fissures became boiling pots of dirt and rock with each bubble spewing forth more soil from the holes.

"Like, I have no idea, man." Shagy held the shivering Scooby in his arms as he backed up to the school's wall. He whimpered along with the dog. "But something, like, tells me we're about to find out."

Out of the churning hole began to emerge a mechanical colossus. It had to have stood nearly as tall as the school itself. The size was absolutely horrifying, but the design…

"It's… so cute!" Sibella laughed at the giant robot, which was shaped like some sort of plump mole, including ridiculously massive teddy bear eyes and smile. "Who invited the circus here? That's just too cute."

More quaking began, and as the group look around, they could see that similar robots were on either side of the school.

Laughing nervously, Shaggy swallowed heavily. "Like, they might be cute, but they're still giant robots."

"Rah. Riant robots! (Yeah. Giant robots!)" Scooby was hiding behind Jackie, just peaking from behind him.

"You know, ordinarily, I would agree with you, Sibella." Jackie's smile between very taut. "However, it should be acknowledged that this just isn't natural. In fact, it's just plain creepy."

Sibella sighed. "Boys."

A more powerful tremor shook the field and the school at its very foundations. The group standing beside the school didn't even have to crane their necks to see the massive robot that stood at the feet of the one in front of them. It, too, looked like a mole, but a very vicious one made out of various drill and miscellaneous cogs. A giant glazed window made up its eyes.

"Finally! It's time!" The window's glaze cleared away to reveal one of the teachers was operating it. "It is finally time to end this silly charade and get to business."

This time, it was Shaggy who laughed. "Oh, come on, seriously?" He wiped the seat from his brow. "I was, like, really worried there, for a minute." He walked towards the small robot. "Hey, like, what are you doing, Mr. Squirm? Some landscaping?"

"DON'T make fun of me!" A drill-claw crashed into the ground right in front of Shaggy. "Everybody makes fun of the bookworm. What kind of monster is that? A bookworm can't do anything. Hah!" The worm's glasses narrowed. "Well, let me tell you, this bookworm's going to do something! I'm going to take over this school and train monsters, not to eventually make peace with humans, but to conquer humanity!"

"With this?" Sibella cracked her knuckles on her hip. "I don't know what you're thinking, but this isn't exactly intimidating."

"Oh, I do suppose you're right." Mr. Squirm smiled calmly. "It certainly is a good thing I have this button here, then." His thick tail slammed onto a giant blue button on his dashboard.

A small beacon shot out of the small robot's head and began to gleam. The small robot began to shake violently, rapidly expanding into a true behemoth. The other robots began to lose their exterior shell, revealing nightmarish machinations.

"My sincere apologies. I simply thought that the irony of a worm being inside of a mole willingly seemed quite fitting for this event." Mr. Squirm's glasses fell off of his nose, but he didn't seem to mind. "Of course, you pay about as much attention in battle as you do in literature class." His robot raised its arm to draw the attention of everyone present to a bluish energy field that surrounded the school and an additional fifty foot radius, forming a sort of box. "As of right now, noone can come in or leave, either physically or by magical assistance."

"Oh, for heaven's sakes," Miss Grimwood walked out of the school's door and promptly placed her hands on her hips, "what is going on out here?"

"Ah, if it isn't the guest of honor herself." Mr. Squirm reached down and grabbed the squat woman in his mechanical clutches. "Couldn't really start the show without you, now could we?"

"Mr. Squirm, unhand me at once!" Miss Grimwood writhed in the hand. "This is most unbecoming of a school teacher."

The bookworm smirked as he raised headmistress to his ride's eye level. "Oh no, Miss Grimwood. It is you who are unbecoming. Unbecoming of a headmaster for such an establishment as a school for young monsters!" He cackled. "Now watch, as I destroy everything you've worked for."

Suddenly, the front doors of the school burst open as a flaming ball of fury rolled out. "Squirm, you slime!"

"Ralmryra (Palmyra)?" Scooby pointed at the flaming fire troll. "Rook, Raggy (Look, Shaggy)!"

"Like, I'm seeing, Scoob. I'm seeing." Shaggy laughed. "We might actually stand a chance."

"Ah, yes. I hate loose ends." Mr. Squirm pressed a small yellow button.

A long tube that looked like a giant flute extended from the chestplate of one of the other robots."

Shaggy froze for a moment, but he soon realized nothing was happening. He laughed again. "Is that, like, the best you've got? That wasn't so bad, like, was it- SCOOB!" His eyes grew wide as he saw the collapsed dog. He turned his head to see that Palmyra was also sprawled across the ground, not a lick of flame in sight. "What happened?"

"A dog whistle." Sibella slowly moved her hands away from her ears. "Trolls, like dogs, vampires, and werewolves, have incredible hearing."

"Quite right. Give a gold star to the lady." Mr. Squirm chortled. "But don't worry. They're safe. For now. I've simply knocked them out is all." He sighed witheringly. "Unfortunately, my robotic assistants were designed to destroy larger targets than you, so I'm afraid I'll have to call in a little bit of backup.

With two loud crashes, the windows to either side of Shaggy, Sibella, and Jackie shattered, releasing the mechanical math teacher and the lithe music teacher.

Shaggy cowered a bit as the hulking, whirring frame of Mr. Crossedwires stepped in. Jackie, on the other hand, placed his foot between the two. "Don't worry. I'll handle this." He launched his fist at the mechanism, but it didn't so much as dent the metal. Jackie grimaced. "….Ow."

"Ah, yes, did I mention that I had Cogsworth install a few upgrades?" Mr. Crossedwires smiled savagely as he took hold of the giant's arm. With one swift movement, he sent the giant sprawling not far from Mrs. Elmroot.

Sibella tried to take on the music teacher, but it was much harder than she had anticipated. They matched each other's lithe movements as they pranced around a small circle.

"Looks like it's your turn, human." Mr. Crossedwires ranked his metal knuckles.

"Not so fast!" A brown blur intercepted the machine and caught it in the jaw. A few more swift jabs, and the robot was forced back several steps. Winnie grinned at Shaggy and winked. "These robot types are easy. All you have to do is aim for the joints."

Elsa took hold of the machine's back, prying off a large panel.

"What the blazes are you doing back there?" Mr. Crossedwires pulled away from the girl. "Think I'm stupid enough to let you shut me down."

"Think you can distract him for a few more minutes, Winnie?" Elsa hovered behind the open back. "I'm afraid I can't do things too well, if he's moving."

"Sure thing, Stitches." Winnie sped forward, delivering another swift punch to the jaw joint on Crossedwires's face.

With his head spinning, literally, the robot couldn't do much. Elsa was able to grab his back and start messing with wires.

"Oh no… _yes_… you don't… _hurry, Elsa_… don't you… _I don't_… you dare… _want to_…" The two mechanical faces uttered such awkwardness as the head continued to move round and round.

Unfortunately for Mr. Crossedwires, there wasn't much he could do, stuck between Winnie jabbing his joints and Elsa jamming up his back. Soon, the eyes lost their shine as one of the arms fell off at the elbow. Elsa moved before the construct fell back on her.

Mr. Squirm yawned. "Gold star for style, Miss Gretel, but let's not be sadistic here. Finish them."

Miss Gretel stopped on a dime, avoiding one more punch from Sibella. She kicked the vampire over and drew her head back. Before her mouth could open, though, a white lasso wrapped around it like a gag.

"Don't worry everyone." Tanis swung down from one of the higher windows. "I've got this one wrapped up." She threw a few more loops around the witch's mouth.

Miss Gretel pulled at the tight wrapping, but she soon gave up. With a quick shrug, she fell onto her back.

"Amusing." Mr. Squirm sniffed. "However, even though I said my larger associates couldn't do much against you, I've still got a few more trick's up my sleeve." He whipped his tail into a massive red button.

Shaggy laughed nervously. "Like, you don't suppose that that was the self-destruct button, do you?"

As a nonverbal answer, several shuriken stars caught onto Tanis's bandages. She went flying until she was trapped against the wall.

"Unfortunately, Miss Tanis, the gold star was meant for Miss Gretel." Mr. Squirm sneered. "How about a flower, Sibella?"

The young vampires looked confused, until something snagged in her hair. Her eyes grew wide as she felt the solid. "Ack! No! A rose! Get it off me! Get it off me!"

"Don't worry, Batgirl. I'll save ya." Winnie ran in the vampire's direction, but a silver chain caught her in mid-bound and wrapped around her. In a mere moment, the two young women were lying unconscious on the ground.

"Winnie! Sibella!" Shaggy's breathing sped up. "Tanis! Oh man!"

"Ha!" Elsa crossed her arms triumphantly. "Unfortunately for you, there is no easy way to defeat my species."

"Be careful you don't get a big head, Miss Elsa." Mr. Squirm snickered. "You might just lose it."

Just then, with two sharp clinks, a spidery machine with two wrenches for arms pulled the bolts out of Elsa's neck. Said girl's head proceeded to fall off, its connections having been severed.

As Elsa's head hit the ground, she frowned. "I probably should have expected this." Her eyes shifted around to find her wandering body.

"Elsa!" Shaggy began chewing his fingernails down to the quick as he realized that he was the only one conscious left. Well, him and Miss Grimwood and Mr. Squirm. "Oh man! What do I do? What do I do?"

"Well, ya'll are obviously going to have to do something, Sugar." Phanty drifted out of the wall. "Ya'll are pretty much the only one left."

"Ah, Miss Phantasma!" Mr. Squirm grinned horribly. "You always were the slow one, weren't you?"

The ghost ignored the canned worm and perched herself on Shaggy's shoulder. "Listen here, Sugar. Don't ya'll worry. I know ya'll can do this 'cause Alister told me that only a human could stop this mess."

A gelatinous blob hurtled towards the ghost and ensnared her, leaving her stuck on the ground.

"A true lady should be seen, not heard." Mr. Squirm nodded smartly. "This is a finishing school, after all." He turned his attention to Shaggy and reached his free mechanical hand down. "That's right, however. I almost forgot that you were human." He looked over at Miss Grimwood and leered. "Tell you what I'm going to do. First, I'm going to crush this human to fine powder. Then I'm going to have my machines destroy your school, crushing all of your dreams. Then," He picked his glasses up off of the floor, and they narrowed as he put them on, "I'm going to pop you like a bad grape."

Miss Grimwood pursed her lips. "You can do to me whatever you want, Mr. Squirm, but I demand that you drop Mister Rogers at once!"

"Oh man." Shaggy looked around at his fallen associates. "What could a human, like, possibly do now. Man, do I, like, wish Alister was here to tell me."

The smile quickly evaporated from Mr. Squirm's face. He turned his attention back to Shaggy. "What was that?"

"Oh, I was just wishing that Alister was here." Shaggy smiled sheepishly. "He's seems like a smart guy. I thought he could, like, you know, help."

"Don't say that name!" Mr. Squirm's glasses became bloodshot. "Never say that name!" He began closing his fist like a vice.

Shaggy groaned as he fought against the tightening grip. "Oh, man! Like, Alister!"

"NO!"

The hand made to act like a guillotine, but something stopped it. A branch. A curiously black rose branch. The branch began to grow and snake around the mechanical arms. Similar branches could be seen sprouting around the other robots as well.

A creature whose blackness greatly contrasted with the whiteness of the delicate snowfall showed up beside Shaggy.

"Alister!" Shaggy sighed in relief.

"Naturally. Who were you expecting? Beetlejuice?" Alister laughed. "Anyways, I should probably get you guys out of here." He grabbed Shaggy by the collar and flew over to nab Miss Grimwood. With a few flits of his powerful wings, he deposited them safely on the ground.

After the vines had completely coated their targets, they rapidly rotted and fell apart, leaving nothing let but a shivering bookworm in the middle of the field.

Alister quietly approached the sniveling literature teacher, and before the invertebrate could say anything in his defense, the darker creature snarled. "Save it for someone who cares!" His left arm turned into a flocked of crows which immediately pounced upon the giant form, making for a mass of black feathers. In a few moments, the crows fell high in the air, leaving only a pair of glasses and a sweater vest. As the birds continued into the sky, they ignited and exploded like fireworks.

Shaggy stared up in the sky as he approached Alister, whose arm had grown back. "Like, what just happened? I thought you said you, like, couldn't kill people."

"I said the bogeyman isn't allowed to kill, and I am not the bogeyman. I'm his son, his heir, but not _the_ bogeyman." Alister chuckled warmly as he turned to the human. "But I must thank you. Without the assistance of a human, I could have never left my room."

He thanks went ignored, though, as realization hit Shaggy. "So you can, like, kill people?" He laughed nervously. "So you mean, like, that ax you sent flying towards my head could have, like-" His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed backwards.

…

Okay, big battle is over, but there still is one chapter left.

Man, I wish I had a witty author's comment left for you, but I used most of my wit in the chapter. Oh well.

Please, enjoy and review.


	12. Chapter 12

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 12: Goodbye, Alister?

As Shaggy's eyes opened, his vision became horribly bleared. He shook his head to clear the fog, and he realized that he was sitting at a table. He looked around to see that everyone else was also sitting at the table, including a very thrashed-looking Mr. Cogsworth and a rather humbled Miss Gretel.

"Thank heavens. It most certainly appears that noone has been taken from us." Miss Grimwood sat at the head of the table. "Well, all except Mr. Squirm, that is."

"A most unfortunate event indeed, Miss Grimwood." Alister took hold of the back of the headmistress's chair. "However, these things do happen." He clapped his hands together. "So how is everyone feeling?"

There were several groans as some students and teachers held their heads or some other aching part of their body.

"Oh, quit being such a bunch of softies!" Mrs. Elmroot walked out of the kitchen, carrying several platters of lunch items. "I was out cold, but I'm well enough to still cook."

"Indeed you are, Palmyra." Alister glided over the floor. "But let's be honest. Trolls don't take too long to heal." He tapped his chin. "Though I suppose some do." He snapped his wrist, and what looked like a check appeared between his fore and middle fingers. "I hope this will cover whatever difficulties my stay here has caused." His smile glittered. "If not, my father has several mines he doesn't do much with anymore. Money isn't really much of an object."

Platters practically flew from the troll's hands to the table as she snatched the check. "What the heck is thi-"

"For begin a good, little troll and not causing problems for the school." Alister smiled and patted Mrs. Elmroot on the head like a small child. "But there are also some real rewards to be given." He swept over to Miss Gretel's side and took hold of her shoulders. "For example, in honor of your service for the Committee of Ten, I will do this." He swiped his hand through her neck.

Miss Gretel should have screamed. Her very countenance was the essence of shock and horror. Not a single shriek was so much as heard, though.

Alister held up a silver, wispy bead. "You will be allowed to select a new voice, of your choosing, when you arrive at administration. We're closed Sundays, though, so I hope you can stand a week without talking."

Miss Gretel's eyes glistened as she looked at the alleged 'voice'. She shouted, or should have, but she uttered not so much as a sound. Her face turned purple with as much effort as she put into vocalization, but there was no noise to be heard. Nevertheless, the young witch was smiling.

Turning away from his conversation partner, Alister froze. "Oh, and we'll see about getting that sister of yours a Las Vegas show or something. We can't really have her wandering the streets.

Noise was finally heard coming from the witch, but not from her mouth. She was clapping like a girl Tanis's age would.

"Yes, I understand that that makes you very happy." Alister knocked Mr. Cogsworth on the head. "So, how's our patient doing?"

The metallic jaw hung limply on the robot's face, but he cleared his throat. "Mr. Crossedwires was surprisingly easy to salvage." He lifted his jaw with his hand. "After making a few more necessary repairs to myself, he should make a wonderful desktop."

"Good, good." Alister nodded seriously. "He's too dangerous mobile, but he should still make for a good mathematics teacher."

"Quite right." Miss Grimwood took a slow sip of her tea. "Taking away his arms and legs should be discipline enough for his unruly behavior."

"That's good to hear." Tanis was the only obviously conscious, as she and Phanty were the only ones at the table, and the ghost was asleep. "It was really scary, when Mr. Squirm was attacking up."

Shaggy's brain caught up with his ears. "Like, wait! What?" He pointed at Miss Gretel and Mr. Cogsworth. "But didn't these two, like, attack us."

"Secret agents, Mister Rogers." Alister smiled as he placed his hands on the witch and the robot's shoulders. "Or rather, double agents. They were school staff here, which is what made them ideal for the job. I knew that our resident bookworm would try to convince as many teachers to join him as he could. You disappeared. I was locked in my room. Mrs. Elmroot was too loyal to the school, even if she doesn't care for Miss Grimwood. Thus, Miss Gretel made the perfect agent." He walked over and patted Tanis on the head. "Didn't it seem strange that a full grown witch didn't use any magic? Or that she didn't use her voice any sooner? Or that she was taken down but this cute, adorable ragamuffin of a mummy?"

"Hey!" Phanty immediately jumped from her seat, surprising most of the crowd around the table, and flew up to Alister. "What about me, Alister, Sugar? I did pretty darn well, too, right?"

"Of course, my young, protoplasmic darling." Alister took hold of Phanty's chin and kissed her on the cheek. "Nothing could have been done, if you hadn't given my message to Shaggy." He chuckled lowly.

"Rah? (Yeah)?" Scooby leaned over the table, pulling a massive turkey leg off of the table. "Rut ressrage ruz rat (What message was that)?"

"Why, one of great importance." Alister spread his wings very wide. "Despite all of my power, I could do nothing of assistance without a human breaking the chains on my door." He scratched his cheek. "Of course, my assistance will no longer be needed here. Not much of a use for a scare tactics teacher in an establishment like this."

"What are you, like, talking about, man?" Shaggy stood up from his chair. "Like, speaking of teachers, where are the rest of the girls at?"

"Sibella is resting for now, Mister Rogers." Miss Grimwood nodded. "Alister has assured me that she'd be all right. Mister Chains is taking care of her now. Alister told him something about an appropriate feeding of blood." Miss Grimwood tilted her head in confusion.

"And I'm doing all right." Elsa walked into the dining room, clutching her head and turning it side to side. "In serious need of a chiropractor, yes, but I'm still alright." She sat down in her usual seat. "I'm kind of concerned for Winnie, though."

"Indeed. She took an awful lot of silver." Alister bowed his head. "It seemed precociously overboard compared to what everyone else had to put up with."

"What about me, Sugar?" Phanty plucked a small glob of green out of her hair and flicked it towards the window. "Ya'll think I had myself a good time in that jam?"

"Well, there's a slight difference between your situation and Winnie's." Alister chuckled. "You couldn't move, but it's not like slime is ever going to hurt you."

"And roses only have a paralytic effect on vampires, so Sibella should be fine." Elsa knit her fingers together. "Silver is poison to a werewolf. I'm glad she didn't ingest any, but," she slammed her fists on the table, taking two incredible chunks of wood out of the structure, "I should have taken that chain for her! She was trying to help Sibella, and I could have tried magnetizing it!"

"Silver isn't a magnetic metal, however." Mr. Cogsworth sighed. "There also was nowhere enough time. All we can do is wait-"

"And hope she doesn't die." Alister clapped his hands together. His smile became tight. "These things happen when a bad teacher comes onto the grounds of any school, but it shouldn't have happened here. In a school where monsters get to have occasional relations with humans, that may help to create peace between humans and monsters, a good head of office is needed."

"This is something Alister and I have been discussing." Miss Grimwood put down her cup and looked directly at Shaggy and Scooby. "Which is why, Mister Rogers, I would like to take you under my wing and apprentice you to be the next headmaster."

"What? Me? Like, headmaster?" Shaggy chuckled nervously as he pointed to himself. "But, like, what about Scoob?"

"What about Scoob?" Winnie had appeared by Shaggy's side, embracing his arm firmly. "Sounds like you won't be leaving here for a long time, so don't expect me to go anytime soon."

"Hey!" Elsa ran over and grabbed Shaggy's other arm. "You're supposed to be sick in bed! And this certainly isn't my last year at this school, either."

"Ladies, ladies, calm down." Alister held his hands up to soothe the two students. "Shaggy is most definitely going to be here for a good, long time. Scooby Doo as well. It would probably do the school some good to keep an assistant headmaster. Mr. Jackie-in-Chains will also be joining the staff as an art teacher. You should really see what he can do with metalwork."

"But wait." Winnie's brow furrowed. "What about a Phys Ed teacher?" Her eyes widened. "Wait! You're not getting rid of that program, are you?"

"Of course not, Miss Winnie." Miss Grimwood smiled. "It's simply come to my attention that maybe a female teacher would be best for physical education. She should know more about female health, after all." She picked up a sheet of paper and looked it over. "Speaking of which, I've already chosen one. A Miss-"

An explosion of purple smoke cast itself across the table, drawing everyone's attention. As the smoke cleared, a young woman with brown hair drawn back in pigtails and a magician's cape cast across her shoulders appeared, bowing gracefully. "Ta-da!"

"Madelyn!" Shaggy nearly jumped out of his seat, had he not had two girls clamped onto his arms.

The younger of the Dinkley sisters looked up and blinked. She smiled and blushed lightly, when she recognized the lanky young man. "Hey, Shaggy! I didn't know you'd be here!" She waved a friendly little hello.

Elsa and Winnie glared between the newcomer and the man in their arms and back again. "You two know each other."

Madelyn blushed a little harder, laughing, but Shaggy tensed a smile, swallowing lightly.

"Well, before the soap opera starts, I better get going." Alister conjured a bowler out of thin air and placed it neatly on his head. "Not much use in the proper upbringing of young ladies now, am I?" He strolled towards the door.

Shaggy turned around in his chair. Just before Madelyn was able to cast her arms around his neck, he was able to sputter. "But, like, what if another bad monster comes?"

"Rah! Rad ronster! (Yeah! Bad monster!)" Scooby whimpered.

"As much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with Mister Rogers and Mister Doo." Miss Grimwood pointed at the heir to the Bogeyman throne. "We are short one teacher, still, and I can't guarantee I can make fair judgement in the short amount of time I have until classes start again."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure the right monster will come." As soon as Alister was out of sight, a black plume exploded into existence beside the headmistress. A familiar figure in a bowler stepped out and held out a business card. "Hi. I'm hare to apply for the position of literature teacher."

…

Oh, why do I always end things like this? No finalized pairing for Shaggy, I'm afraid.

I might actually continue this story one day, but not now. For now, I have other projects to work on.

I do have to admit that I'm pleased with all of the references to various Scooby-Doo movies I was able to make.

For now, I bid you all farewell.

Please, enjoy and review.


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